The Maine Sportsman - August 2019 Digital Edition

Sportsman The Maine

August 2019 • $4.99

New State Record Splake Page 34

NEW

Catch-and-Release Club Page 40

Choosing a Bear Guide Page 19

What Will Trout Fishing Be Like in 2049?

Page 73

Youth Writing Contest Winner Page 50

Completing the AT Thru-Hike – Part 2 Page 47

2 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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Editorial

Maine Catch-and-Release Club —

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Henry Leon (“Lee”) Wulff was world-famous for a lot of accomplishments – designing dry flies, inventing the fly fishing vest, establishing fishing and casting schools, and advancing the idea of anglers as conservationists.

“Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once,” he wrote in 1936, championing a catch-and-release philosophy that has a strong following in our state today.

The Maine Sportsman has administered “The One That Didn’t Get Away Club” for decades. The official “application for membership” in the exclusive club, lists the club’s credo across the top: “An Association of Fresh Water Anglers Who have Landed a Big One in Maine.”

Even though the existing club does not does not limit membership to those to have landed and kept a big fish, for all intents and purposes the requirements for certified scales and a game warden’s or biologist’s signature meant the fish were usually not in a condition to be released after the verification process was complete.

So our challenge was to create a program to recognize trophy fish that are caught, measured, photographed and released.

The concept is not foreign to many Maine anglers – those who encounter mandatory catch-and-release rules (designed “S-7” in the Maine regulations), especially when fishing late in the season – in October, November and December.

However, certain renowned Maine rivers are protected by more than just seasonal catch-and-release rules – The Rapid River, for example, is managed under strict fly fishing-only standards, with catch-and-release on trout, and barbless hooks required. Likewise, the Androscoggin River from the Maine/New Hampshire border downriver to Gilead – single-hook, artificial lures and catch-and-release. And similar rules apply to the Little Ossipee River, from North Shapleigh to Newfield.

In this issue, starting on page 40, we roll out the new Maine Catchand-Release Club. It’s the result of a steady drumbeat of support from readers, as well as examples from nearby states.

In addition, the program is the result of hard work by several dedicated individuals, including Sam Cushing, who researched and compiled for us the current rules for catch-and-release developed by other states; and second, Wes Ashe, a state biologist who runs the best-organized charity ice-fishing derby imaginable each winter. Wes did the “number-crunching,” converting current “weight” categories for each species of fresh-water fish, to lengths, so fish can be measured, photographed and released quickly.

The rules have been kept simple, since the goal is to encourage participation. And those rules will evolve, as we gain experience with the program.

Thank you for propelling us toward this important next step – now let’s get out those smartphones and rulers, and start catching fish!

¶

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New England’s Largest Outdoor Publication Readership

Sportsman The Maine

ISSN 0199-036 — Issue No. 563 • www.mainesportsman.com PUBLISHER: Jon Lund MANAGING EDITOR: Will Lund will@mainesportsman.com OFFICE MANAGER: Linda Lapointe linda@mainesportsman.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Kristina Roderick kristina@mainesportsman.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Nancy Carpenter nancy@mainesportsman.com Second class postage paid at Scarborough, ME 04074 and additional entry offices.

All editorial inquiries should be emailed to will@mainesportsman.com Phone: 207-622-4242 Fax: 207-622-4255 Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Maine Sportsman, 183 State Street, Suite 101,­ Augusta, ME 04330 12-Month Subscription: $30 • 24-Month Subscription: $49

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Almanac by Will Lund........................................................ 12 Aroostook - “The County” by Bill Graves......................... 36 A Warden’s Life by Warden Lt. Bill Allen (Ret.)................ 39 Big Game Hunting by Joe Saltalamachia...................... 34 Big Woods World by Lee Schanz, Jr................................. 32 Bird of the Month by Erika Zambello................................ 15 Capitol Report by George Smith..................................... 16 Central Maine by Steve Vose........................................... 61 Downeast Region by Jim Lemieux................................... 59 Editorial.................................................................................. 4 Freshwater Fly Fishing by Lou Zambello........................... 42 Jackman by William Sheldon........................................... 51 Jottings by Guest Writer, Ron Joseph................................ 8 Katahdin Country by William Sheldon............................. 44 Kate’s Wild Kitchen by Kate Krukowski Gooding........... 53 Letters to the Editor.............................................................. 6 Maine Sportswoman by Christi Holmes........................... 47 Maine Wildlife by Tom Seymour....................................... 18 Maine Wildlife Quiz by Steve Vose................................... 31 Midcoast Report by Tom Seymour................................... 58 Moosehead by Tom Seymour.......................................... 54 New Hampshire by Ethan Emerson.................................. 74 Off-Road Traveler by William Clunie................................ 56 Outdoor Chronicle by Ed Pineau..................................... 33 Quotable Sportsman by George Smith........................... 17 Rangeley Region by William Clunie................................. 69 Riding Shotgun by Robert Summers................................. 79 Saltwater by Barry Gibson................................................. 28 Sebago to Auburn Region by Tom Roth......................... 65 Self-Propelled Sportsman by Jim Andrews...................... 62 Shooter’s Bench by Col. J.C. Allard................................. 64 Smilin’ Sportsman: Adults & Kids by Will Lund.................. 79 Sporting Environment by David Van Wie........................ 73 Sportsman’s Journal by King Montgomery..................... 10 Southern Maine by Val Marquez..................................... 68 Trapping The Silent Places by David Miller...................... 48 Trading Post (Classifieds)................................................... 80 Trout Fishing by Tom Seymour........................................... 41 Western Maine Mountains by William Clunie.................. 71 Young Maine Sportsman by Luke Giampetruzzi............ 67

SPECIAL SECTIONS

ATVing in Maine by Will Lund............................................ 22 Bear Hunting in Maine by Bill Graves............................... 19 Boaters’ Brains by David Putnam..................................... 77 Hunters’ Breakfast by Randy Randall.............................. 78 Catch-and-Release Club by Will Lund............................ 40 Saltwater Fishing in Maine by Bob Humphrey................ 25 Sporting Dogs by Michael Browning................................ 30 Youth Writing Contest Winner Story by Isabella Milazzo.. 50

On the Cover: Ciera Hamlin pulled the new Maine state record splake out of the waters of Frost Pond on May 18, 2019. The fish was 29 inches long and weighed 11.38 pounds. Read the exclusive details in this month’s “Big Game” column by Joe Saltalamachia, starting on page 34. Photo courtesy of the Hamlin family

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www.MaineSportsman.com

Letters

6 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

To The Editor

Likes Steve Vose’s “Tick Trouble” Column To the Editor: I have been a long-time reader and hunter, I like the information your magazine has put out over the years. A lot of this I pass on to Guardsmen and women, as well as friends and family.

An example was the recent article by Steve Vose (Tick Troubles; “Central Maine,” July issue), in which the author details the problems caused by ticks, and sets forth some preventative measures designed to slow the spread of tick populations.

Dangers from ticks are especially important to Maine Air National Guard service-members, since much of their training is done in the woods and fields of our state.

David E. Foss Integrated Training Area Management Coordinator, Maine Air National Guard Training Sites —

Weighing In on Lead To the Editor: Colonel J.C. Allard (“Advocates Say: ‘Get the Lead Out’”, Shooter’s Bench, July issue) asked readers for our views on the lead ban for bullets. Here are mine.

The New York State Conservationist magazine recently published an article discussing the topic. Studies showed that hunters who ate lead-shot venison had higher lead levels in their blood than the rest of the population.

Studies of deer meat also confirmed the presence of lead particles to be higher than expected.

It appears that lead fragmentation is cer-

tainly a problem for hunters, the hunted, and the predators that feed on wounded game and carrion.

At age 72, I personally never have been tested, but growing up we ate a lot of shot game, and my dad joked that he routinely had to replace the toilet bowls because of all the lead shot passing through our systems.

I have switched to copper bullets for deer and similar game, and to the newer non-lead bullets for waterfowl and small game. If lead can kill eagles, loons, and the like, I don’t think it’s good for the rest of us.

Regardless of the politics in Washington that led first to a proposed ban on lead ammo, and then to a reversal of that decision – I’ll go with the scientists on this issue.

guilty to an unrelated 4-wheeler charge, and the state dismissed the tree stand case.

Charles Matarazzo – Asbury, New Jersey

Joe Weiss, Ph.D. – Clarence, New York —

Tree Stand, Elevated Platform or Permanent Structure?

To the Editor: I am writing about my experience in the Maine woods last season, in which your state’s law enforcement personnel ruined a hunting week for four guys.

I’ve been hunting in Maine for 33 years and this was my first encounter with law enforcement.

I built a tree stand late last summer for my grandkids and myself. It was built on land under the jurisdiction of the Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC).

A game warden first found the stand in September, but waited until November to call me out of the stand.

I received a summons because the warden called it a permanent observation platform. I think it’s just an elevated blind.

I was told I needed a permit to build a blind like the one I had. I was told the permit application was available online, but I went online and also talked to a lady at the Public Lands headquarters, and I could not find such an application anywhere.

I ended up going to court and pleading

The Matarazzo hunting structure

The Editor responds: We are sorry about Mr. Matarazzo’s experience.

We have looked into the issue sufficiently and agree with him on at least one thing – the rules, and the jurisdictions, regarding tree stands and platforms are complex.

Let’s start with the rules we know about: 1) It is unlawful to insert nails, screws, bolts or spikes into a tree on another person’s land to erect a ladder or observation stand, unless you have permission from the landowner.

2) You must obtain permission of the landowner to erect or use a portable or permanent ladder or observation stand, and the ladder or observation stand must be plainly labeled with a 2-inch by 4-inch tag with the names and addresses of everyone the landowner has authorized to use it.

3) Portable ladders or observation stands (Continued on next page)

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used on land within the jurisdiction of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LUPC) and attended by the person who owns the ladder or observation stand, do not require landowner permission or labeling, but permanent ones do.

4) Oral permission from the Bureau of Public Lands is required for portable tree stands or ladders located in organized towns when used on a daily basis.

5) Written permission from the Bureau is required to place unattended tree stands or ladders in organized towns.

6) Landowner permission for portable tree stands or ladders is not required by statute in unorganized towns.

7) Portable tree stands or ladders are allowed while being “attended” by the person using them. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife interprets “attended” to mean that the stand or ladder is being used on a daily basis. During days when the stand or ladder is not being used, it is supposed to be removed from the tree.

8) According to the Bureau of Public Lands (BPL), permanent structures must be attended and require landowner permission.

Without prior authorization from BPL, permanent structures left unattended on public land for more than three days are considered abandoned.

However, if there is a link on BPL’s website to apply for written permission to erect an unattended tree stand, ladder stand or observation platform, we – like Mr. Matarazzo – were unable to locate it.

Part of the problem in this case may have been that Mr. Matarazzo’s structure – to the uninitiated observer, at least – has the appearance of a permanent platform, which may actually require not only permission, but an actual building permit.

Mr. Matarazzo explained to us that in this case, despite the appearance, the structure, in his words, was “all put together in sections – all panels that were just screwed together, and it was easy to put together and it was easy to take apart.” In other words, he did not consider it “permanent.”

Our assumption is that the reason the warden may have waited until the stand was in use, is because the state’s laws on tree stands and observation platforms are triggered only “while [an individual is] hunting any wild animal”; 12 MRS sec. 10652.

So what lesson can be learned here? It’s that the best way to start the process is to call the LUPC (Land Use Planning Commission) office for the area where the platform would be built. The contact information is found on the agency’s web site, www.maine. gov/dacf/lupc/about/offices/index.shtml. This link leads to a map of the state, and if the user clicks on the region they’re interested in, phone numbers and email addresses of each district’s staff are displayed.

LUPCS staff told us they can help a hunter figure out what the zoning is for their land, what is allowed, and what, if any, permit is needed.

Likes the July Cover Photo To the Editor: Thank you for putting our friend and neighbor, Jesse Goodwin, on the cover of your July issue.

Jesse is a local Orr’s Islander. He lives on the coast of the island, and he eats, drinks and breathes fishing. He’s extremely knowledgeable, because he has been fishing since childhood.

Linda Taylor – Orr’s Island, Maine Editor’s response: Here’s another photo of Jesse Goodwin, releasing the trophy striper shown on the July cover.

I would love to see from the earliest photos to the present all the Top 10 bucks.

I know it would be quite a project. I understand why you don’t have room for a complete set of back issues in your offices, given that The Maine Sportsman has been around more than 46 years and 562 issues!

Thank you for your time.

Tom Deraspe – Topsham, ME The editor responds: Thank you for the suggestion. We will do some research on the history of our involvement with the Biggest Bucks Club, and with our annual presentations of the Top 10 bucks of the year.

—

Young Man and the Sea?

—

Top 10 Bucks Photo Compilation Over the Years?

To the Editor: Have you ever considered creating a photo-type booklet on the history of the Biggest Bucks Club and the Top 10 biggest bucks for each year?

To the Editor: I’m 22 years old and have been fishing in Maine since I was about 5. I fish out of York. I enjoy the Maine Sportsman and always pick up a copy of the magazine when at Kittery Trading Post.

I’m writing because I have a story for you!

Well, to be accurate, the story is still playing out.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a dream of catching a porbeagle shark while fishing from my kayak off York.

About four years ago, I started seriously pursuing this dream. It has been a wild ride ... I’ve caught blue sharks; I’ve been within an arm’s distance of whales; I’ve been caught in storms – you name it. Still no porbeagle, but she’s coming!

I will keep you informed of progress.

Grant Thompson – York, Maine

¶

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— www.MaineSportsman.com

8 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

We’re Guilty of Underappreciating Brook Trout In 1970, when I graduated from high school, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell released “Big Yellow Taxi.” The timeless song about environmental degradation is as meaningful today as the day she penned these lyrics: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Mitchell’s song still resonates with older brook trout fishermen, who, like myself, lament the disappearance of a magnificent fish. We’ve taken native trout for granted while embracing non-native fish that are slowly eliminating Maine’s most beloved and sought-after fish.

There’s no easy answer to restoring brook trout populations, especially now when growing numbers of fishermen love bass and northern pike.

“Catch Every Last Damn Bass!”

If I were wizard for a day, I’d wave a magic wand and wipe clean from all Maine waters entire populations of bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, northern pike, muskellunge, and other non-native fishes.

To my bass-fishing friends who vehemently disagree with my rants, I reply, “Please, by all means, bass-fish 24/7.

I hope you catch every last damn one. And when you’ve finished, catch every single pike.”

Consider this sobering fact: In less than a century, non-native fishes, climate change, pollution, and streamside habitat destruction have significantly reduced brook www.MaineSportsman.com

If I were wizard for a day, I’d wave a magic wand and wipe clean from all Maine waters entire populations of bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, northern pike, muskellunge and other non-native fishes.

Spawning brook trout. Photo courtesy Bill Hanson

trout populations in ninety percent of their historic range (see accompanying map).

Although Maine has the best remaining wild brook trout populations in the U.S., the fish are under threat by selfish fishermen who release bass into fabulous brook trout waters, like the Rapid River in western Maine. The harshest fish and game penalties should be applied to them.

Challenges Documented The challenges brook trout face from competing non-native fish is well documented in Forrest Bonney’s book, Squaretails: Biology and Management of Maine’s Brook Trout.

Bonney is a retired Maine state fisheries biologist who spent a career studying brook trout.

He writes: “Brook trout compete poorly against warm water fish species.

The smallmouth bass is one of the most damaging species introduced to Maine’s waters in terms

of its impacts on native brook trout. Brown trout and rainbow trout were both introduced to Maine, and may strongly affect the distribution of native brook trout.”

No Apologies I make no apologies for being a highly opinionated native brook trout enthusiast. No Maine fish symbolizes the Pine Tree state better than eastern brook trout. It would be treasonous of me to fish for smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, and northern pike knowing that brook trout populations are suffering because of these fish.

I can trace my brook trout infatuation to the early 1960s, when, as a boy, I spent summer days in Oakland fishing, haying, and playing sandlot baseball. Messalonskee Lake, Great Pond and other Belgrade Lakes were my fishing playground. Brook trout became part of my DNA. I’m not too old to remember when the Belgrade Lakes produced trophy

brook trout, rather than large northern pike.

My Mom Out-fished My Dad My working class parents who fly-fished on Big and Little Berry Ponds, north of the Forks, reinforced my love of trout.

My mom, who out-fished my dad, claimed that fly-fishing saved their marriage.

It wasn’t until 1966, age 14, that I first learned that squaretails and brook trout are synonymous. By then, enthralled with trout fishing myself, I pedaled my Schwinn Panther to friend Johnny Holt’s home in Belgrade.

From there we biked to inlet brooks of McGrath Pond and Great Pond and dunked worms for brookies. My Schwinn was equipped with a wellworn leather mailbag that housed a spinning rod, tackle, worms, and pan-size trout.

This summer I relived a piece of my youth with a banner fishing outing on a western Maine stream.

Greg Drummond and I

were splitting 20 cords of firewood at his sporting lodge in Highland Plantation when late afternoon showers sent us scurrying inside.

Ten Casts; Five Trout While we sipped coffee, my lifelong friend surmised the heavy rain would improve trout fishing by raising and cooling water levels. “Let’s call it quits today,” he said.

“We’ll fish first thing in the morning. I have a hunch the trout will be active.”

On a glorious Sunday morning, clad in waders, Drummond fly-fished upstream; I waded downstream to a promising deep, dark fishing hole, lit by shafts of golden sunlight streaming through overarching silver maples. Ten casts produced five trout, the largest being ten inches long.

Sitting on a bank among waist high ostrich ferns, I was transported to childhood days in Belgrade when fishing ranked above baseball and girls on my list of summer loves. I recalled my mother’s urgent voice on Big Berry Pond in 1958: “JJ (her nickname for my dad), strip in your line. I’ve hooked a beauty and I don’t want our lines to tangle.”

It’s been fifty-one years since Johnny Holt and I raced bikes to “ol’ reliable” — our favorite trout hole hidden on a tiny brook in a cedar swamp.

Inside the lodge I replaced my waders with work boots and stared at a mounted brook trout.

The plate read: “Dr. Donald Poulin, Brook Trout, 5 pounds, Great Pond (Continued on next page)

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1965.” Belgrade Lakes’ trophy trout fishery no longer exists.

Stocking Mistakes Although well intentioned, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has committed fish stocking mistakes, but it’s not entirely the fault of the agency or its fisheries biologists. In the past, Governors often appointed state agency commissioners, as a political favor for support during a campaign. Until recent years, fish and wildlife commissioners had little or no scientific background. Some openly expressed disdain of science and biologists, as if it were a badge of honor.

Commissioners answer to the Governor and to a lesser extent the Legislature. And here’s the problem – when politicians bow to public pressure from vocal interest groups and order the stocking of fish over the objection of professionals, fisheries biologists are forced to follow directives, or they risk being re-assigned or threatened with job loss.

The late Roger AuClair, pioneering state fisheries biologist on Moosehead Lake, once said to me at his Rockwood home, “When legislators are influenced by rabble-rousers, instead of fisheries biologists, they can cause a lot of damage to wild brook trout.

Once non-native fish are stocked, there’s not much we can do to eliminate them.”

Worth More Than Their Weight in Gold Native trout are worth more than their weight in gold, a point demonstrated literally in the 2016 legislative session when Maine lawmakers passed the strictest mining laws in the country in response to an Irving proposal to mine gold in northwestern Aroostook County. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Legislature for recognizing that a gold mine’s toxic

The author sits in the front of registered Maine guide Greg Drummond’s grand laker, number 13 of the 39 he built. Greg kept number 13, figuring no one would want the “unlucky number.”

chemicals would have threatened one of Maine’s remaining trophy brook trout fisheries.

A couple of years ago, the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture conducted a range-wide assessment of brook trout from North Carolina to New England.

It concluded that Maine is “the jewel of the eastern range. It’s the last stronghold for brook trout.”

That’s a compliment and a wake-up call to protect a prized fish that has attracted dignitaries and celebrities to our state, including Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the ballplayer Ted Williams.

Perhaps Henry David Thoreau best captured the mystique of Maine’s “speckled trout” after catching his first from Abol Stream on the West Branch of the Penobscot River. In The Maine Woods, published in 1864, Thoreau wrote: “Before their tints had faded, they glistened like the fairest flowers, the product of primitive rivers, and he could hardly trust his senses, as he stood over them—these bright fluviatile flowers, seen of Indi-

ans only, made beautiful, the Lord only knows why.

In the night I dreamed of trout-fishing; and, when at length I awoke, it seemed a fable that this painted fish swam there

The author releases a 17-inch brook trout he caught on a dry fly.

so near my couch.”

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful gift to leave future generations with healthy, sustainable wild native trout to inspire their dreams too?

Writer Ron Joseph is a retired wildlife biologist.

He lives in central Maine.

¶

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10 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Fishing for Freedom The lead boat, the Libreti Rose, piloted by Captain Bruce Hebert, approached the iconic stone jetties at the mouth of the Kennebunk River.

I looked up and saw the American flag flying from a cable suspended over the water by a ladder truck of the Kennebunkport Fire Department.

Horns and sirens sounded, and cheers filled the air. People lined the jetty on the Kennebunkport side and most were waving flags and waving.

There were other folks on the Kennebunk part of the jetty.

My lips quivered, and my eyes misted. This was the first time I experienced any kind of organized appreciation for my combat service since being badly wounded in Vietnam 50 years ago!

Nine or ten other boats followed us out into the bay, and they were loaded with other vets bent on having a good time on the water, fishing rods in hand and smiles all around.

And this was due to the efforts of the Wounded Heroes Program of Maine, the Nonantum

A Saco-based organization, Wounded Heroes Program of Maine, organizes fishing events each year for veterans. As a combat-wounded vet, the author was invited to join this year’s striper-fishing excursion. Although the author has done a great deal over the years to support vets and vet programs, this was the first time since he was shot almost 50 years ago that he joined such an event as a participant.

He was so moved and impressed that he decided to share the experience with our readers.

The Kennebunkport Fire Department honored the vets on the breakwater at the mouth of the Kennebunk River as the boats proceeded into the bay.

Resort in Kennebunkport, and a host of volunteers – all led by the dedicated, innovative, intrepid, and really incurably-sweet person, Pam Payeur. Her story began when her son Mike was wounded in Iraq.

Wounded Heroes Program of Maine Corporal Mike Pay-

Mike Payeur shows one of his stripers, this one caught off of Parsons Beach near the mouth of the Mousam River.

The schoolie striped bass took a chunk of mackerel, and no float was used. www.MaineSportsman.com

eur was a tanker in the 1st Cavalry Division on his second tour in Iraq when an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) detonated under the heavily-armored vehicle. (IEDs are made from whatever is available, and this one apparently was comprised of three propane tanks with explosives

Brandon Deaton watches his foam “bobber” for signs a striped bass has taken the mackerel.

and detonator.)

His head was violently thrust into the “ceiling” of the tank, and the results are not pretty: traumatic brain injury caused him to black out; he suffered severe neck strain with misaligned vertebra; he lost some hearing; and the compression racked his knees, strained his

back, and caused hairline spider fractures in both legs below the knee. In short, he was a mess.

Factor in Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) to further complicate things, and you have a person who will be challenged to one degree or another throughout life.

Roadblocks to Recovery After Mike was medically-evacuated to the USA, via an American military hospital in Germany, his mother Pam spent as much time with him in Texas as possible.

Pam notes that Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio is a “phenomenal facility” where the staff is made up of very competent and compassionate people.

After Brooke, Mike slipped through some bureaucratic cracks and wasn’t receiving he care he needed. Things eventually straightened out, but always there were challenges and roadblocks, eventually including the Veteran’s Administration. And it wasn’t just Mike having prob(Continued on next page)

It is good to see juvenile codfish in near-shore waters.

Their presence indicates successful spawning, and, hopefully, is a good sign that stocks might be on the way to recovery. We immediately released all cod.

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 11

Nonantum Resort’s general manager Tina Hewett Gordon (L) and Pam Payeur at the resort dock where fishing guides from the Kennebunks and nearby Wells wait to board combat wounded vets and go chase some striped bass.

(Continued from page 10)

lems with the system – it also was a lot of other wounded vets as well.

Pam Payeur founded the non-profit Wounded Heroes Program of Maine in 2008, the year Mike came home, to help other vets and their families navigate the labyrinth of military services and VAbased care, and disability benefits.

She led the group for 10 years, holding fundraisers such as the motorcycle rides, and sponsoring fishing adventures for the wounded vets, many of whom probably wouldn’t have gone fishing otherwise.

Now that the number of combat-wounded vets has decreased, and the government is doing a much better job caring for them, Pam’s worthy endeavor has ended, but the group still holds several fishing events each year. (Send donations to help put on these popular venues to Wounded Heroes Program of Maine, P.O. Box 1797, Saco, ME 04072.)

The program has helped hundreds of veterans with their care and benefits, and still boosts morale with the fishing days for wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

Participants can associate with fellow service-members, and spend a carefree day on the water, enjoy the fresh air and the camaraderie

Tina Hewett Gordon, general manager at Kennebunkport’s Nonantum Resort, brings a large smile to my face. Tina and her fine crew are wellknown for their very fine support of veterans.

of new friends who have been there. I find the experience therapeutic in a number of ways, and it also helps to catch a few fish, too, but that’s not absolutely necessary.

Holy Mackerel!

The ubiquitous Atlantic mackerel seems to be on earth for the sole purpose of feeding creatures from the land, sea and air.

Striped bass that make their way up to Maine as the spring waters warm love to eat mackerel. I can remember schools of stripers ripping through huge schools of mackerel they have driven to the surface. The fishing can be spectacular. But, alas, not today.

We were having trouble finding the mackerel, but jigged Sabicki rigs did account for enough of these herring to head off to live-line for the bass.

Capt. Bruce had enough dead mackerel on-board to cut into bait pieces if that became necessary.

Bruce Hebert was mystified we weren’t hitting the usual large schools of macks. It seems, he said, that they come and go, and have been tough to find much of the time. But sometimes his sports brought up a mackerel on every hook on the Sabicki rigs.

The stripers, it seems, were at the same party as the mackerel, and were scarce off of Kennebunk’s Mothers Beach. And we weren’t invited.

We moved to the near-

by rocks off Lord’s Point and Mike, an excellent angler, hooked and landed a striper just under the 28-inch length limit.

It proved to be the only fish here, so Bruce motored around the point, and past the entrance to the Mousam River to Parsons Beach. Parsons joins Wells Beach farther up the coast.

The Mousam, by the way, hosts runs of striped bass, alewives and other anadromous fishes, but they are stopped by the Kesslin Dam in Kennebunk, one of several dams in the city. There is a good chance this dam and two of the others upstream will come down, and hopefully open up some spawning habitat.

Anchored just behind the very gently rolling breakers, we could see a school of stripers milling around in the semi-clear water. Bruce had us remove the large foam floats attached to our lines, and just fish a chunk of cut mackerel on a circle hook.

One striped bass liked the arrangement and attached itself to Mike’s hook and was brought aboard. It was a tad under the keeper limit, and after a quick couple of photos went back into the water. Again the school seemed to evaporate and for the remainder of our fishing time failed to show itself and attack our baits.

A Scrumptious Lunch As we motored into

The Nonantum Resort folks had a large tent erected on the green along the Kennebunk River, and it served as the mess hall for the participating veterans. A scrumptious buffet included grilled steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs, boiled lobster, several salads, and blueberry pie and ice cream.

the Kennebunk River, I looked back and saw our wounded vet flotilla spread out like a Sabicki rig. There were a lot of smiles coming from everyone, and I knew it was a good day. If we all were happy now, just imagine how we felt after having lunch under an open-sided tent back on the riverside grounds of the Nonantum Resort.

It’s good to be in the first boat docked after fishing. It means you are first in line at the buffet spread provided by the Nonantum. I was hungry as hell, and was not bashful about grabbing a large plate and a Corona (with lime) before encountering the first offering in a long line of food. In order, there were grilled steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs, several salads, and hot, boiled lobsters.

In between bites and sips I looked around. Volunteers and members of Nonantum’s staff were scurrying around to see if we needed anything else.

“Would you like another beer, or lobster, or can I clear that plate for you?

We have blueberry pie and Maine-made vanilla ice cream to finish off your lunch.” It’s no wonder that we all soon were full, and most of us were craving a nap back home.

I can’t say enough about the wonderful Nonantum folks, including Tina Hewett Gordon, general manager; Brianna, event coordinator;

and the wonderful wait and serving staff who were most efficient and kind. Their smiles went a long way to make my day even better. The Nonantum Resort long has been most generous in their unselfish support of veterans over the years.

A huge shout-out to the guides who took us out that day. Our boat captains were from the Kennebunk Rivers and Wells, and our thanks go out to them all for giving us a beautiful and special day. ***** Now that Pam Payeur’s days aren’t so consumed with assisting our wounded veterans, after all those years of unwavering dedication to others she probably has more time to devote to herself.

Yes, she puts on the three fishing events I mentioned, and that requires a lot of work on her and the volunteers’ parts.

And I want her to know we appreciate it.

Mike, Scott, and Brandon seem to be doing pretty well, too. What they’ve been through is life-changing.

You are never the same coming out of a war as you were going in. Everyone who has experienced combat first-hand goes home with, at a minimum, PTSD of one degree or another.

You are a different person, and the effects are with you forever.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

Almanac

12 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Compiled and Edited by — Will Lund —

“Snapshots in Time”

Excerpts from the Annals of Maine’s Sporting Past Submitted by Bill Pierce, of the Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc, Maine Have you ever gotten lost in the Maine woods? I have.

In my ten years at the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, I sometimes learned from Wardens details of situations in which folks got “turned around” while sporting about in our Maine Woods.

Getting “turned around” is nice way of saying completely lost. In almost every case there was a desirable outcome, with many a valuable lesson learned.

The time I got lost, it was on a cloudy day on a big stretch of flat featureless ground up

by Baker Lake. We had bolted from the truck after a bird that had just ducked into the woods.

Soon the dog was on point on three birds!

We then proceeded to start turning this

way and that while following a happy bird dog with a snoot full of sent. More birds were found – and some dispatched – over the next 20 minutes.

When the dust settled, my companion and I realized that we had two distinctly different opinions as to which way the truck was. Uh oh.

I felt so foolish and then, in the fading light of dusk, a bit nervous. I felt like a complete idiot for blasting out of the truck without a compass bearing after a scurrying bird. Idiot!

Then it became all too clear why they say some folks panic and start running about.

“Stay calm” is what all experienced woodsmen say about that realization, but my “terror” was in how embarrassed I’d be if my

warden buddies had to perform a search for us!

I then told my pal to stay put no matter what, gave him my extra dog whistle and then I did circles of increasing radius’ around him while we occasionally signaled each other.

As the distance increased, a shot or two became necessary.

I eventually found our truck on the road less than a quarter of a mile away. For two days after, I kicked myself for being so stupid.

There was no one to come look for you if you were lost in the Maine woods in 1899.

This “Outta the fryin’ pan and into the fire” (literally) story illustrates how bad it could really get back then.

LOST IN THE WOODS

Hunters Became Lost Between Rangeley and Dead River Phillips Phonograph, September 29, 1899

One of the most remarkable cases of suffering, a suffering which cannot be easily appreciated, is illustrated by the misfortunes of two hunters from Ohio, who recently attempted to cross from Rangeley to the Dead River without a guide; these gentlemen’s names are Whitely and Mason.

Being inexperienced in woodcraft, they soon lost their way, and on the second day out were lost in the great forests of North Franklin county.

At this time their sufferings from thirst were terrible, for the recent dry weather had dried up many springs and some brooks.

All this day they plodded along constantly on the lookout for water, but at last about sunset came upon a small brook where they rested for the night.

Mr. Whitely, who was the weaker of the two, was by this time completely exhausted, and both men drank so much water that they were soon suffering

from a debilitating sickness, they having had no food since the evening of the preceding day.

On the third day one of the men was in a high fever, but his companion at last killed a deer and this supplied them with food. On the seventh day, the sick man became better and they again tried again to get out of the wilderness.

They went along slowly following the brook, hoping this would take them to a larger stream. Greater trouble was in store for them, for the course of the stream led them into the great forest fire of a short time ago.

Mr. Mason said, “We halted, and I looked around me and tried to learn which way the smoke was drifting, feeling sure that course would be the best for us. There was but little water in the brook, but once in a while little pools large enough to hold us both were found.”

The fire was now close upon them,

and the night sky was as bright with flame as at noonday in sunlight. Here Mr. Mason carried his companion across rocks to a pool of water, and here they both sat down.

At last they were obliged, owing to the heat, to lie down in the water while burning branches and embers fell thickly around them. At one point the fire was so fierce and so close every few seconds they were obliged to dip their faces beneath the water.

When the heat became bearable, they took off their clothes and dried them, passing what Mr. Mason calls “a night of horror”; they had at this time eaten nothing since noon of the day before.

At twelve o’clock (the eighth day) they came to Dead River and a logging road and very soon to a camp; no one was in it, but it contained plenty of food, and the men were soon on their way to New Portland and civilization.

(Almanac continued on next page) www.MaineSportsman.com

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 13 (Continued from page 13)

Video-Streaming Using a Camera inside a Bass Lure? Why Not? “Eco-Popper” is a large plug with a couple of interesting features. First, it has an HD wide-angle camera lens for a tail; second, its “dorsal fin” is an antenna that transmits the streaming video to the user’s smartphone, tablet or large-screen depth sounder.

terway trails and other opportunities to enjoy time on the water with their canoes and kayaks. However, paddler’s needs will go unmet until they have a way to pay into a fund dedicated to their sport.

“The current situation [of access and water rescue costs being borne by powerboaters] is unsustainable and diverts resources supported by fuel taxes, fees and other revenue from power boaters and sailors.”

We here at the Maine Sportsman hope Maine law remains unchanged, which allows canoes, kayaks, rowboats and paddleboards to remain unregistered, requiring registration only of “motorboats,” which are defined in statute as “any watercraft, including airmobiles, equipped with propulsion machinery of any type, whether or not the machinery is the principal source of propulsion, is permanently or temporarily attached or is available for propulsion on the watercraft.”

—

Meet the Newest Game Wardens

In fact, Eco-Popper creates its own Wi-Fi hotspot that an angler’s smartphone connects to, so there is no need for a separate Internet connection.

This surface lure also has separate sensors along its sides, so it can transmit information including water temperature to the user.

It’s like a mini GoPro for the end of your line, and just like a GoPro, the resulting video can be shared online.

For more information, and to view video taken with the lure, go to www.eco-net.com.

—

Can Fiberglass Boats Be Recycled?

A pilot project in Rhode Island is working to determine whether fiberglass boats can be recycled into useful building materials.

According to information recently distributed by BoatUS, the most common way to dispose of an old boat is to crush and bury the pieces in a landfill where the fiberglass (essentially plastic) degrades slowly.

However, last year marked the start of the Rhode Island Fiberglass Vessel Recycling Pilot Project.

—

Oregon to Require Registration of Canoes and Kayaks Those paddling kayaks and canoes in Oregon will soon need to pay a total of $12, according to a recent article in FishWire.

The fee consists of $5 toward aquatic invasive species (AIS) control and prevention, and $7 toward a new state access fee (a “waterway access permit”).

Strong support came from the National Marine Manufacturing Association, which represents the power boat industry. The spokesperson for the association stated, “Paddlers deserve dedicated launch facilities, safety education tailored to their needs, wa-

Fins & Furs Adventures

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Game Warden James Gushee

Game Warden James Gushee grew up in the small town of Appleton, Maine.

While Warden Gushee was very young, his father helped hook him on recreating in the outdoors. He spent many days in the spring and summer brook fishing, hiking, ATVing, and camping near his camp in Coplin Plantation.

He also spent his time in the fall either following his dad through the woods when he was too young to hunt, or hunting when he became old enough.

With these early activities taking place outdoors, Warden Gushee found himself be-

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ing checked by game wardens. Through these interactions, he realized what he wanted to do at a young age – to become a Maine Game Warden.

Warden Gushee remained very active in the outdoors throughout his schooling, graduating from Camden Hills Regional High School in 2012.

He attended the University of Maine in Fort Kent, and while there was hired as reserve police officer for the town of Fort Kent. He worked at Fort Kent P.D. until he was hired as a Deputy Game Warden.

Warden Gushee worked on Long Lake in Naples, Maine as a Deputy Game Warden in the summer of 2017, and was extended to work the fall of 2017 for the Warden Service.

In December of 2017, he was hired full time, graduating from the 34th Basic Law Enforcement Training Program in Vassalboro and the Advanced Warden School in 2018.

Warden Gushee is looking forward to his career as a Maine Game Warden and is eager to help conserve Maine’s many natural resources.

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This processed fiberglass could serve as an energy source or as a filler for concrete products, according to the boat recycling project’s sponsor.

(Continued on next page)

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14 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Almanac (Continued from page 13)

Maine Audubon began its annual Loon Count, asking volunteers to head out on Maine lakes one day each July to count all the loons and What’s at stake? According to the inforloon chicks they could find. mation provided, about 1.5 million fiberglass Now in its 36th year, and with the help boats are junked every decade in the United of more than 1,300 volunteers on more than States.

300 lakes, Maine Audubon has learned a lot The pilot project has now collected 20 tons about how our loon population is faring. of recycled material and is preparing to pro As safe as it appears to be for loons on cess the material to supply to concrete plants, Maine lakes, in reality there are many threats where it will be used as an energy source or to their survival. Evolution has pushed the as a filler for concrete products, according to legs of Common Loons to the very back of the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association, their bodies – better to help them swim unthe project’s sponsor. derwater after elusive fish – but as a result they have nearly lost the ability to walk on — land. Consequently their nests are very close Loon Numbers Up in Maine to the edge of the water, and are therefore

by Nick Lund, Maine Audubon susceptible to washout from strong storms or boat wakes.

The echoing wail of the Common Loon is a Loon eggs are also delicacies for crows, perfect soundtrack to summer in Maine. For raccoons, minks, and other predators. the thousands of Mainers who spend time on Lead has been the biggest threat. Like all lakes and ponds during the warm months, birds, loons don’t have teeth, so they swallow these big beautiful waterfowl are welcome pebbles from the lakebed and grind their food companions. in a species organ called a gizzard. Loons are But for the longest time, no one had any unable to discern discarded lead weights or idea if their population was healthy. In 1983, jigs from the rest of the rocks on the bottom, and then are poisoned Take a trip you’ll never forget when they ingest the lead. Of the Immerse yourself in the Maine wildlife 255 dead loons examined by Maine and scenery that YOU want to experience. Custom trips and tours.

Audubon and Tufts Vet School bePersonalized Registered Maine Guide Training tween 1987 and 2012 for which a amaineguide.com • (207) 729-6333 cause of death could be determined, 97 of those birds died from lead poisoning.

However, despite all those Educational. Personalized. Awesome. threats, Maine’s loon population is healthy. A number of measures taken on behalf of loon protection Custom snowshoeing, sea kayaking, canoeing, SUP, trips and training have worked, and the Loon Count (which focuses on the southern half of Maine because of a lack of volun-

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teer counters in the north) has seen the Common Loon breeding population jump from just over 1,500 birds in 1984, to more than 3,250 in 2018. Results of the 2019 count are still being tabulated, but we expect the good news to continue.

Many factors have helped in this surge.

As a result of informational signs and outreach from lake associations, boat owners are more knowledgeable about reducing their wake near shore during loon nesting season.

Water quality has improved throughout the state, increasing fish populations and making it easier for loons to spot prey underwater. And a sharp reduction in the use of lead tackle has decreased – but not yet eliminated – instances of lead poisoning.

Thanks to the work of Loon Count volunteers, lake associations, fishermen, and many others, Mainers will be able to enjoy loons on their lakes for decades to come.

If you’d like to volunteer for the Loon Count, visit MaineAudubon.org.

—

Maine Sportsman Writer Wins an Award – from Southerners!

Last month, the Mason Dixon Outdoor Writers Association (MDOWA) honored feature writer King Montgomery with a plaque and a cash award for “Best Article on Conservation or the Environment” for his 2018 Maine Sportsman article titled “A Last Best Hope,” which chronicled the fine work of the Down East Salmon Federation.

The MDOWA is comprised of outdoor communicators from 10 states and the District of Columbia; one of its founders was the famed Lefty Kreh.

Congratulations, King!

— (Continued on next page)

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 15 (Continued from page 14)

Bird of the Month: American Kestrel

by Erika Zambello

Drive within any farm area in Maine during the summer, and you could see a small raptor staring down at you from its perch on an electrical wire.

American Kestrels – one of the smallest birds of prey in the United States – range across the country throughout much of the year, but many move north for the breeding season.

Usually identifiable by their small silhouettes alone, kestrels are a reddish, rusty color, with males sporting gray wings.

The size of a Mourning Dove, they feed primarily on insects, small rodents, and even other birds – all of which are often plentiful in open habitats.

Because this species cannot create its own nesting cavities, it must use natural rock crevices and tree holes, as well as those created by other birds, including woodpeckers. A successful pair lays 4-5 eggs, and can fledge up to two broods each summer.

Unfortunately, populations of the American Kestrel took a dive between the mid-20th century and 2015, with numbers plunging 50%. While pesticides and pollutants hurt the birds themselves, land-clearing and farming practices that remove brush and dead trees reduce the cavities kestrels can use to nest successfully.

Interested in seeing kestrels up close?

Put up a nest box in your yard to attract a pair! The boxes should be built and installed before the kestrel breeding season begins, and by closely watching your box, you can reduce the threat of predation on the nesting kestrels and their young.

CERMINARA LANDSCAPING

Kestrel nest box plans call for a 3-inch hole, and a “floor plan” of at least 8 inches by 10 inches. Credit: www.Birdwatching-Bliss.com

Kestrel nest box plans are available on websites such as www.Birdwatching-Bliss — You can find the Sunrise/Sunset and Tidal Charts on page 16!

¶

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16 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

My Stories from a Lifetime of Hunting and Fishing The recent opportunity to speak at a forum in May, sponsored by the KJ and Sentinel, was a lot of fun. I got to share a lot of funny stories about my lifetime of experiences including hunting and fishing.

For example, when my grandson, Vishal, was five or six years old, we were up to camp when I took him to Sourdnahunk Stream to catch some brook trout. I carried “V” across the stream and we hiked up to a favorite pool.

I cast the fly into the stream, hooked a fish,

I shot the black duck, which tumbled into the stream. My dog, usually a great retriever, quickly jumped in and swam out to the bird. But instead of bringing the duck back to me, he carried it to the other side of the stream and ate it! and handed the rod to V so he could reel it in. After I removed the hook, I handed the fish to V and told him he could release it. He stepped back and threw the fish like a football way downstream.

“Ah, V,” I said, “I guess I need to show you how to do that!”

Pretty soon I was casting and handing him the rod so he could hook the fish and reel it in. And he did a nice job of releasing them. The 25th trout was a big one and after he released it, V looked up at me and said, “Grampy, we’re both very happy.”

Boy he got that right!

The Feeling of Being Watched?

One year I took Linda to Alaska, and we stayed at Rainbow River Lodge.

Each day they would fly

us to a river to catch big rainbow trout or silver salmon, which run 10 to 12 pounds.

I have a photo of Linda on the salmon river, taken from behind just after she cast, and 10 yards away a giant bear is looking at her.

The river was full of bears, and luckily, they were very good at catching fish. But it took some getting used to fishing with a bear here and a bear there.

Hunting Stories – “Don’t Worry, Honey” One year I shot a nice buck that ran about 75 yards and dropped.

It was getting dark, so I was rushing to clean it out and get it home. Then it happened – I almost cut my finger off. Blood spurted everywhere, and

I couldn’t stop it.

So I left the buck, got in the canoe, paddled back to the vehicle and drove home.

Linda wasn’t home, but I rushed through the kitchen with blood spurting all over the place and into the bathroom, but I still couldn’t stop the blood from flowing.

So I left Linda a note that said, “Don’t worry about the blood, I’m headed to the Farmington hospital for stitches to my finger.”

I don’t think she’s ever forgotten that note!

Looked Like a Woodcock!

One time I was woodcock hunting with my friend Jimmy Robbins in Searsmont. We were in an old abandoned apple orchard, and Jimmy put

August 2019 Sunrise/Sunset

August 2019 Tidal Chart

Portland, ME

Portland, ME

DATE 1 Thu 2 Fri 3 Sat 4 Sun 5 Mon 6 Tue 7 Wed 8 Thu 9 Fri 10 Sat 11 Sun 12 Mon 13 Tue 14 Wed 15 Thu 16 Fri

RISE 5:28 5:29 5:30 5:32 5:33 5:35 5:36 5:36 5:37 5:39 5:40 5:41 5:42 5:44 5:44 5:45

SET 8:06 8:04 8:03 8:01 7:59 7:58 7:57 7:57 7:55 7:52 7:51 7:49 7:48 7:46 7:46 7:45

www.MaineSportsman.com

DATE 17 Sat 18 Sun 19 Mon 20 Tue 21 Wed 22 Thu 23 Fri 24 Sat 25 Sun 26 Mon 27 Tue 28 Wed 29 Thu 30 Fri 31 Sat

RISE 5:46 5:47 5:49 5:50 5:51 5:53 5:54 5:54 5:55 5:57 5:58 5:59 6:00 6:02 6:02

SET 7:43 7:42 7:39 7:37 7:35 7:34 7:32 7:32 7:30 7:27 7:25 7:24 7:22 7:20 7:20

DATE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

HIGH AM PM 11:54 — 12:05 12:45 12:58 1:37 1:52 2:29 2:47 3:23 3:45 4:19 4:46 5:17 5:49 6:16 6:53 7:17 7:59 8:18 9:00 9:14 9:55 10:06 10:44 10:52 11:29 11:35 — 12:10 12:15 12:47

LOW AM PM 5:39 5:48 6:30 6:42 7:20 7:36 8:11 8:31 9:03 9:29 9:58 10:30 10:54 11:34 11:53 — 12:39 12:54 1:45 1:57 2:48 2:57 3:44 3:50 4:34 4:38 5:18 5:22 5:59 6:02 6:35 6:40

DATE 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

me on an open knoll and said he and his dog would be working down through the bushes to my right.

He pointed to the bottom of the bushes, and explained if there was a woodcock in the bushes, that’s right where it would come out and fly right past me.

I could hear Jimmy and his dog moving through the bushes, and suddenly a bird flew out right where Jimmy said it would and sped across the opening in front of me.

I made a terrific shot, and down went the bird.

Jimmy’s dog trotted up to the bird, looked down at it, looked back up, and walked away.

“Oh dear, what did I shoot?” I wondered. Well, I’d shot a robin!

More Bird Stories I used to have a dog that was a great retriever, and we often hunted ducks on my stream.

(Continued on next page)

HIGH AM PM 12:52 1:22 1:28 1:56 2:04 2:30 2:41 3:05 3:20 3:44 4:04 4:26 4:52 5:12 5:45 6:04 6:43 7:02 7:46 8:02 8:47 9:02 9:44 9:59 10:38 10:54 11:31 11:48 — 12:22

LOW AM PM 7:09 7:16 7:42 7:53 8:15 8:30 8:50 9:10 9:28 9:54 10:09 10:42 10:55 11:34 11:45 — 12:30 12:41 1:31 1:42 2:33 2:43 3:31 3:41 4:25 4:36 5:17 5:31 6:08 6:25

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 17 (Continued from page 16)

One morning, a black duck flew by and I shot him. He dropped into the stream and my dog quickly jumped in and swam out to the bird.

But instead of bringing the duck back to me, he carried it to the other side of the stream and ate it!

I enjoyed hunting grouse with my friend Ed Pineau at his Northeast Carry camp. We would ride the dirt roads, and when we spotted a grouse, we would each take a turn getting out and shooting.

It was my turn as we were riding down the road when Ed spotted a grouse in the woods.

So we stopped, got out, and walked back to that spot. Ed pointed into the woods and said there it is. Well, I couldn’t see it. So finally he said, “Give me your gun and I’ll shoot it.” I responded, “No way, it’s my turn to shoot.”

Ed pointed to a tree trunk about 20 yards into the woods and said the grouse was right at the bottom of the trunk. Well, I still couldn’t see it, but I aimed at the bottom of the trunk and shot.

When I walked out into the woods to the trunk, I had shot two grouse! Without seeing either one!

Yes, hunting and fishing were always fun, and lots of times funny, too.

Tales of Excess from the 1800s – These Two Guys Killed 265 Moose A friend recently loaned me a book of amazing stories from the Rangeley region, focused on the Megantic Fish and Game Club. Many of the stories are from the 1800s. One that shocked me was this: As an illustration of the wanton and wholesale slaughter indulged in heretofore – also showing, incidentally, the abundance of game in this region – in the winter of 1869-70, two hunters killed 265 moose between January 15 and April 15, taking only their skins.

An old hunter told me last summer, with an air of pride, that 15 years ago last June he killed in one night, at Rush Lake, five moose, three of which were cows.

And consider this story: Probably the most atrocious recent violation of the game laws was a slaughter, by still-hunting and hounds, of hundreds of deer, of which 2,700 pounds of hind quarters only were shipped to the Boston market.

Yikes!

Fishing, Also The fishing stories are pretty amazing. One fellow during a few days of fishing in June in the last 1800s got 581 brook trout, many of them very big. He killed 98, and returned the rest to the water. 8- and 10-pound trout

Quotable

Sportsman

by George Smith

“The lake simply has too many salmon, and growth is suffering. At one time, this lake produced some of the largest salmon in the Moosehead Lake region.”

DIF&W fisheries biologist Tim Obrey, about his effort to remove salmon from Chesuncook Lake, Maine’s 3rd largest lake. John Holyoke story, Bangor Daily News, May 17, 2019 — “We’re constantly backing up police offi-

were not unusual.

In 1867, two guys from New Hampshire caught 59 trout weighing a total of 293 pounds, including seven trout between eight and 10 pounds. Their smallest trout were two pounds.

Yup, this was the good old days!

hunt in the fall, but refused to get rid of the permit and fee or the tagging requirement.

The Legislature’s IFW committee carried over our bill to next year’s session, to give the department time to further consider these changes.

I don’t really expect

Fascinating Video from Retired IF&W Folks “A Salute to Service” is a great video of stories from retired members of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department. I knew some of these guys, and all of them had outstanding careers.

You can watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GetGvDs0Abg Turkey Limits Expanded Even though only 5,000 people hunt turkeys in the fall, DIF&W’s move to expand that hunt is drawing criticism.

I guess those hunters want those turkeys all for themselves.

For the fall hunt, the department expanded both the days to hunt and the bag limits, in 10 WMDs. At the legislature this session, Sen. Shenna Bellows worked with me on a bill to get rid of the turkey hunting permit and fee, expand the bag limit, and get rid of the tagging requirement.

In response, the department stepped up to agree to an expanded

the changes in this fall’s hunt to attract a lot more turkey hunters or result in a much higher harvest, and if I’m right, DIF&W will have to consider getting rid of the permit and fee in the fall if they really want more hunters and a higher harvest.

¶

TALL ORDER -- On June 16, 2019, Scott Stevens of Augusta landed this monster 23-1/2 lb. northern pike while trolling at Long Pond in Belgrade. As a way of offering readers a perspective of the amazing length of this fish (41 inches) as they view this photo, Stevens stands 6’2”,

cers on drug problems. It’s a crisis.”

Joel Wilkinson, Colonel of the Maine Warden Service, Legislative hearing, May 29, 2019 — “Despite the good news on harvest and overall returns, it’s worrying that salmon populations have not rebounded further.

We’re still losing ground to threats like open net-pen salmon aquaculture, habitat loss, and changing ocean conditions.”

Atlantic Salmon Federation President Bill Taylor. John Holyoke story, Bangor Daily News, May 31, 2019.

— “This is not the time to give the commissioner the power to extend the (bear) baiting season. It’s time for some accountability.”

Karen Coker, WildWatch Maine, at a legislative hearing. Patrick Whittle story, Maine Sunday Telegram, June 2, 2019.

— “I know a lot of women who want to hunt. I think more will start to hunt moose.

I don’t think it’s just a man’s sport anymore.”

Kelly Lamoreau, who won her third moose permit this year. Deirdre Fleming story, Maine Sunday Telegram, June 9, 2019 — “[We have] 2,600 to 3,000 wolves. The moose calves — the newborns — are vulnerable for the first 30 to 50 days.”

Glenn DelGuidice of Minnesota, John Holyoke story, Bangor Daily News, June 14, 2019 www.MaineSportsman.com

18 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Maine Wildlife: Chain Pickerel

by Tom Seymour

Chain pickerel, Esox niger, rank as one of the most unappreciated and underrated fish in Maine. Chain pickerel, or just plain, “pickerel,” are abundant over much of Maine, but mostly come to net as a bycatch while fishing for other species.

Part of the problem is that pickerel have lots of fine bones, and people dislike eating bony fish. But careful work with a fillet knife removes most of these, and the few tiny, soft bones that remain don’t pose a problem.

The other contributing factor to pickerel’s lack of popularity is that with the advent of pike, pickerel have become relegated to a back seat. Bass, too, compete for angler time, so pickerel have little chance of becoming popular.

But those of us who enjoy catching and eating pickerel have a good thing going. With few others trying to catch them, we have prime pickerel waters mostly to ourselves.

Also, pickerel advocates know that pickerel bite well and fight well, often jumping clear of the water. So what’s not to like here?

Finny Gluttons Pickerel have seemingly unquenchable appetites. They will attack other fish up to half their size, and that includes other pickerel. I once had an 18-inch pickerel on and was enjoying the battle, when suddenly my fish became supercharged. The biggest pickerel I have ever seen – and I’ve caught pickerel nearly 28 inches long – had grabbed “my” pickerel on the end of my line and refused to let go.

The battle raged for some time and my prize finally tired enough for me to bring it almost to shore. But then it opened its mouth, releasing the smaller pickerel.

I watched in stunned amazement as my pickerel-of-a-lifetime slowly descended into the tannin-stained depths of the millpond where it lived.

I returned countless times and caught lots more pickerel, but that old Leviathan never bit again.

Big Lures, or Small Like other members of the Esox family, pickerel will eat most anything they can fit in their toothy mouths, and even some things www.MaineSportsman.com

Photo credit: Noel Burkhead / Howard Jelks

that won’t fit in their mouths, as evidenced by the monster that engulfed the pickerel on my line. With such a prodigious appetite, pickerel do yeoman duty in keeping spinyrayed fish populations in check.

I’ve taken pickerel on tiny lures such as Mooselook Wobbler Midgets. I’ve also taken them on lures better suited for stripers and bluefish. The idea behind using large lures is, “big lures, big fish,” but this doesn’t always work because pickerel’s wideranging appetite causes them to tackle all other fish, both great and small.

Pickerel Folklore Pickerel have long been immersed in folklore, most all of it patently untrue, ridiculous and misleading. For instance, pickerel’s teeth do not all fall out in summer.

How anyone could have imagined that in the first place is beyond me. And pickerel do not taste “muddy” in summer, either. In fact, pickerel flesh has a sweet, rich flavor, without the slightest taste of mud, and that stands true year-round.

In fact, I’d like for someone to explain what a muddy taste is, and how fish might acquire it. I’ve heard people accuse another fine fish, togue, of being “mudfish, with a muddy flavor.” It’s all rubbish. Fish are what we make of them, and without proper care upon being taken from the water, the finest fish will exhibit a poor flavor.

Here’s another hare-brained pickerel axiom. This one at least has a semblance of reason behind it. Small pickerel, it is said by countless old sages, have no bones.

Of course a fish without bones could not survive. Perhaps those perpetuating this nonsense believe that bones somehow develop only after the fish matures.

However, since small pickerel have fine, hairlike bones, it’s easy to imagine how someone eating a pickerel fillet by lantern light, may assume that the fish are somehow naturally boneless. Generous servings of adult beverages may enhance this illusion.

Finally, I know of no recorded case where a pickerel bit a swimmer. Perhaps if they grew to 20 pounds or more, that might pose a problem. But with an average length of between 15 and 20 inches, pickerel content

themselves to attacking other fish.

Pickerel Waters While pickerel are occasionally found in coldwater habitat, they thrive in weedy, slow-moving streams and shallow lakes and ponds. Being a pickerel aficionado for these many years, I can look at a new lake or stream and state, with some certainty, that it contains pickerel.

One of my favorite pickerel waters has a depth of 12 feet. This is an impoundment, full of wild rice, intended to induce waterfowl to linger and breed. And while pickerel bite here year-round, the best fishing occurs in early spring before aquatic vegetation becomes troublesome. Hitting this place in late April, it is possible to experience nonstop action on hungry pickerel. For me, that’s a dream come true.

Downeast Maine abounds in pickerel waters. Slow-moving streams that meander through heaths and boggy lands grow pickerel of prodigious lengths. But few people take advantage of such boons. I have stood along one of these, “pickerel factories” and taken humongous pickerel. Cast after cast, fish after fish, these places give up a never-ending stream of pickerel.

Most bass waters also contain pickerel but the sad story is that bass often outcompete pickerel, and the pickerel end up dying out. One of my favorite waters for trophy pickerel was stocked with largemouth bass perhaps 25 years ago, and now there are no pickerel. But that was a small pond, while in larger lakes pickerel have a fighting chance of survival despite competition from bass.

Pickerel Apologist So yes, now it’s plain that I am a pickerel apologist. Pickerel are predictable and dependable and seldom refuse to bite.

Available to anglers using any and all types of fishing tackle, pickerel have everything to recommend them.

Yes, pike and muskies grow far bigger than pickerel. But both these other species are non-natives. Pickerel occur naturally, and are a valuable addition to the long list of Maine’s game fish.

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 19

For Bear-Hunting Success – Get a Guide!

by Bill Graves

It takes a lot of work to establish and maintain even one bear baiting location. A professional guide handles dozens so sportsmen can relax and wait for a sight like this. All photos by Bill Graves

When other sportsmen find out that I establish and maintain four bear baiting sites each year just for use by myself, family and friends, they ask lots of questions.

Guides have to set up and maintain dozens of bear baits sites to meet every weather and weapon situation. The author, Bill Graves, is a handgun hunter, so he needs to be close to the bait barrel compared to the longer distance that can be employed by a rifle shooter.

Foremost on the list from rookie and novice bruins hunters is, “Do you have any advice how I can get started doing what you do?”

My answer is simple

and always the same – “Get a guide.”

I’ve traveled far and wide hunting and fishing, and hiring a local guide is the best way to learn and enjoy positive

Steve Hitchcock of Mars Hill and Bill Graves of Presque Isle bookend guide Brian Bowmaster of Perth-Andover New Brunswick after a successful spring bear hunt. Brian did all the work, and the boys drove 20 minutes across the border from home for all the fun.

results. Guides have the experience, knowledge and time required to do the job right, and your individual success is their primary goal.

Bear Baiting Not Simple Despite the perception by non-hunters that baiting bear is a simple process and a sure meth(Continued on next page)

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20 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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Bear Hunting in Maine (Continued from page 19)

od of filling a tag, the lessthan-25% annual success ratio of bear hunters proves otherwise. And while on the subject of statistics, here’s one more – of those hunters who are successful in bagging a bear, more than 75%

employed the services of a guide.

To establish and maintain an effective and productive bear bait location requires a great deal of work, as well as an understanding of the habits and habitat of these

black ghosts of the Maine woods.

Guides utilize the animals’ patterns, routines, strengths and shortcomings to aid sportsmen in bagging a bruin. You see, big bears don’t get that size by being dumb or careless.

(Continued on next page)

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Making All the Arrangements Part of a dependable guide’s job is to locate and obtain a landowner’s permission for several baiting locations, and most important make sure there are no other baits nearby.

The guide must establish multiple bait sites to allow relocation options, since conditions may change weekly or even daily, such as wind, weather, and the availability of natural food supplies. Nearby roads, hiking trails, ATV trails, and active farming and logging operations all must be avoided, so the challenging first step for a guide is to lock down likely spots.

Preparing the Sites Next item on every competent guide’s agenda is to set up a system of bait receptacles, bag, buckets or barrels, designed to bring bear into a safe, clear shooting lane away from cover.

Since these bait barrels must be filled at least every other day, it’s important they be simple to service, anchored in some manner to prevent the bear from carrying them away, and covered or elevated to keep varmints from stealing all the food.

The guide must lug an elevated shooting platform through the forest, and erect it in such a way that it offers steady elevation with good visibility.

As an alternative to

elevated platforms, some guides are utilizing portable ground blinds. The perceived benefits include improved protection from the elements and insects while also keeping human scent and any motion better contained.

Then it’s time to set out attractants in the form of aromatic bait balls, gels or sprays that dissipate in the breeze and attract bear from afar, so the animals can easily locate the food supply.

High-tech scouting reports can be assembled if the guide installs trail cameras to photograph visiting bruins – such images establish the animals’ sizes, and the times of their visits to the sites.

Bait Selection and Supply Well before the season, preparation-minded guides locate a depend-

able source of desirable bait. The bait – such as pastries, trail mix, grain and molasses – must be purchased, loaded, hauled and stored.

Then comes the tasks of filling buckets and transporting the bait to the hunting sites several times a week for up to two months.

Follow-Up to an Accurate Shot Once the season begins, if a bear visits on a night when a hunter is in the stand and a good clean shot is made, that’s when the real work begins.

Tracking, trailing – often in the dark – hauling out the animal through heavy brush, cleaning, loading and transporting, and perhaps skinning and butchering.

Now take a few seconds to add up the cost of land leases, tree stands, bait, cameras, gas for

“Here’s my son Joe with his first bear,” writes Mark Maimaron of Raynham, MA. “We have been hunting the past four years with Bobby Hafford at Allagash Wildlife Sporting Camps. Joe connected with this 241-lb. boar on Thursday August 30, 2018 using his 30-06 from a ground blind. His twin brother Mike got his first bear (176 lbs.) the year before. Now every chance he gets, Joe reminds Mike that Joe’s bear was bigger -- that’s brotherly love!”

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derstand the wisdom and saved expense of my simple advice – Get a guide.

¶

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22 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Maine’s ATV Community Uses Social Media as a Tool

by Will Lund Social media is a communication system that was not even in existence within the memories of many ATV riders.

Now, however, that system – including club websites, Facebook posts, tweets, email messages and posts from Maine’s conservation and inland fisheries and wildlife departments – plays a critical role in gathering and disseminating information.

The information provided can mean the difference between the trailride of a lifetime, versus a trip that must be abandoned because of trails

closed by weather or harvesting.

Changing Times How completely has Maine’s ATV community embraced social media as a way to communicate important information to clubs and riders?

Consider these five messages, sent out by the state earlier this summer: • 06/03/2019 09:23 AM EDT: The Aroostook Valley Rail Trail between Presque Isle and Washburn is closed due to a LARGE washout on the railbed. Currently there is no direct connection between Presque Isle and

Washburn. Plans for repair are being considered.

We will post an update here when we have more information.

• 06/06/2019 11:38 AM EDT: Effective immediately the trail from Bingham to The Forks / Shirley is closed due to harvesting. All traffic going to Greenville from Solon/Bingham will need to go through Kingsbury, up to Happy Corner in Abbot, to the railbed in Abbot, and then north.

• 06/10/2019 08:19 AM EDT: Trail Update: Mt. Blue ATV trails are now open. There are still a few wet areas – use cau-

tion, and obey all signage.

• 07/01/2019 08:54 AM EDT -- Week of July 4th update: Please remember there are several trails closed due to harvesting activities and it’s vitally important to obey all sign closures for safety reasons. The trail between Greenville and Kokadjo remains closed, and this includes no access to the B52 site. The trail between Bingham and Greenville through the Moxie Forks area remains closed. You can ride from Bingham over to Kingsbury and Abbott and then north to Greenville.

• 07/02/2019 08:18 AM EDT – Important Reminder: While the pit play area at Summerhaven is open to riding, the loop trail remains closed due to harvesting and expansion projects in some active pits. There have been some close calls because people are ignoring the closure signs and even running over fences.

Please stay off the trail system for your own safety and that of others.

First Customer -Landowners The State of Maine has adopted a progressive approach to social (Continued on next page)

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 23 (Continued from page 22)

media. Reports are that the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) has more than 3,000 friends on Facebook. While that is impressive, it may be a while before that state agency catches up with the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (DIFW), whose Facebook page has an astounding 127,000 friends.

In the case of each statewide message or communication regarding trail availability, there are several “customers” of the service.

The first, according to state officials with whom we spoke, are the private landowners across whose property the majority of Maine’s trial system is laid out. Those landowners have a couple of important goals.

Those goals include: 1) Not permitting ATV riding when trail use would permanently damage the trails themselves, leading to soil erosion, danger to riders and other risks. This situation became readily apparent earlier this spring, when late snow melt and early rains kept many trails closed longer than in past seasons; and 2) Restricting travel when an area of woods is being actively harvested. Massive machinery is now used to cut and process stands of timber.

Even some of the largest devices are operated by a single individual, who may have limited visibility in and around the equipment.

Bottom line? Private property is still private, and the landowner is still the “decider.” Most access to private property is governed by written agreements in which the terms and conditions of use are listed. If a trail is unusable for whatever reason, and if the landowner can get word to the state, which in turn can pass that information on to clubs and individual

riders, then access to the property in the future can be better preserved.

Second Customer: Clubs The second important customers of the current social media communications system are the ATV clubs scattered throughout the state.

In a very real way, these clubs serve as clearinghouses, passing on information from the state to their members, and from some members to other members and to visitors passing through their region.

Today, club websites serve much the same purpose as the clubhouses formerly served – a way to find out general trail information, plan social events, and schedule trail work days.

Meeting minutes are posted, as are the names and contact information of current club officers.

On several sites, we found requests for members to volunteer to serve as a special officer with a title that reflects the current and future role of the clubs: “Social Media Chairman.”

Clubs also use their websites to tout their own facilities, history and the advantages of membership.

And most postings, along with notices from the state, include links to trail maps.

Final Customer: Individual Riders The ultimate beneficiaries of increased use of social media are riders themselves. In addition to trail closings and openings, members post photos from scenic trail rides, as a way of preserving memories and increasing interest from prospective members.

Riders post information about restaurants, fuel and overnight accommodations, to supplement the posting-ontrees signage that’s been used for decades.

(Continued on next page)

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24 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

THE CAT IS BACK #PASSIONISPOWER

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GORHAM BERLIN, NH White Rock Outboard Jericho Outdoors 351 Sebago Lake Road 232 Jericho Rd. *Offer valid at participating U.S. dealers to U.S. residents on new and unused 2010–2015 Arctic Cat ATV models excluding youth, rental, government and special services models. See dealer for details and 207-892-9606 603-215-6002 program dates. 4.9% FINANCING FOR 60 MONTHS valid on 2010-2015 models, Financing provided through Sheffield Financial or FreedomRoad Financial and is subject to credit approval; not all applicants will qualify for credit. Financing promotions void where prohibited. 2-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY valid on 2015 models and includes six-month limited factory warranty and 18-month extended service www.whiterockoutboard.com www.jerichooutdoors.net contract through Cornerstone. REBATES UP TO $1,000 valid on 2010–2014 models and varies by model purchased. Offer subject to change without notice. Excludes tax, freight and dealer setup. Only ride an ATV that is right for your age. Supervise riders younger than 16. Arctic Cat recommends that all riders take a training course and read and understand the owner’s manual operation. safety information, your dealer Safety Institute at eye (800) 887-2887. ©2015 Arctic Cat Sales Inc.,andThief River ROVs can before be hazardous to operate.For Improper use or cantraining cause severe injury or death.see For your safety, each or ridercall mustthe wearATV a seat belt, approved helmet, protection and protective gear.

Avoid excessive speeds be particularly careful on difficult terrain. All ROV operators must be 16 years old and have a valid driver’s license. We recommend that all riders take a training course and read and understand the owner’s manual before operation. See your dealer for Falls, MN 56701. safety or training information or visit http://rohva.org. ©2017 Arctic Cat Sales Inc., Thief River Falls, MN 56701.

ATVing in Maine (Continued from page 23)

Social media and the internet have affected how trips are planned and completed: 1. Someone interested in a certain trip can locate, download and print off trail maps of where they want to go.

2. Parking sites, refreshment stops and fuel supply locations can also be determined in advance (“It’s very important to know,” an ATV-rider told us, “where the next gas station is located.”)

3. The rider can check for trail closings, including both manmade events (harvesting) or natural occurrences (in addition to the seasonal wetness and snowmelt, flash flooding – as occurred in many parts of Maine several years ago – can wash away culverts, bridges and trail sections.

A Question of Coverage With all the reliance

on internet and cellphone coverage, a challenge is posed by the fact that not all areas in Maine, including the western mountains and the Greenville/ Moosehead area, offer seamless wireless coverage. Often, blackouts occur because of natural geographic features.

After a day or two of no coverage, an ATV rider coming over the crest of a high ridge may hear a “ping” or feel a vibration in his or her phone as hours and hours of messages are loaded onto their devices.

It’s a time many riders pull to the side of the trail to see whether any important information has been sent their way.

In most cases, a place in trail has been widened and packed down, by tens or even hundreds of other riders doing the same thing.

¶

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© 2018 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserve<!.™.®, and the BRP logo are trademarks of Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc. or its affiliates. 1AII other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. In the USA, the products are distributed by BRP US Inc. BRP reserves the right, at any time, to discontinue or change specifications, prices, designs, features, models or equipment without incurring obligation. Some mcxlels depicted may include optional equipment. BRP highly recommends that all ATV drivers take a training course. For safety and training information, see your dealer or, in USA, call the ATV Safety Institute at 1-800-887-2887. In Canada, call the Canadian Safety Council at (6131 739-1535 ext 227. Read the Operators Guide and watch the Safety DVD before riding. Wear appropriate protective clothing and helmet. For side-by-side vehicles, fasten lateral net and seat belt at all times. Never engage in stunt driving and avoid excessive speed. Always observe applicable local laws and regulations.

Side-by-side vehicles and ATVs are recommended for drivers aged 16 and older, and passengers aged 12 and older only. For off-road use only. Never ride on paved surfaces or public roads. Always ride responsibly and remember that riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix.

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 25

The State of Maine’s Saltwater Recreational Fisheries

An Interview with Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher, Part 1

by Bob Humphrey I was perusing some materials received from the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) recently, when something caught my eye.

It was verbiage indicating the DMR had reorganized their recreational group, paring staff down to one full-time and two half-time staff.

Surely that could not be possible – that Maine’s saltwater recreational fisheries program has only one full time staff person. But after several re-reads, that seemed to be the case.

Not unexpectedly, my shoot-from-the-hip reaction on social media drew an immediate response from DMR commissioner Pat Keliher, who invited me to sit down with him and Marine Science Bureau director Carl Wilson to get a more accurate assessment of the resources currently being directed toward recreational fisheries in the State.

Program Monitors Recreational Anglers Keliher kicked off our discussion by pointing out that under the most recent reorganization, the only staff positions dedicated exclusively to recreational fisheries are indeed the aforementioned employees, all of whom

are part of the sampling program. In addition to them, there may be up to five seasonal contract employees hired for field and phone surveys.

This effort is part of a national program administered by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), called the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP).

Through this pro-

gram, which has been in place since 1979, surveyors monitor catch, effort and participation, along with demographic, social and economic characteristics of saltwater recreational anglers.

Results are used to help guide management decisions, among other things. The program is mandatory and in part, the reason Maine has a saltwater angler registry.

Had DMR not established a State registration with a $1 fee, the federal government would have set up their own program with their own fee schedule and all funds going to them instead of remaining within the State.

“Angler Intercept Surveys” According to Wilson, the latest reorganization allows the DMR to hire on more people at the

most appropriate time, that being during survey season.

Efforts include a ForHire Telephone Survey of charter and head boats, a mail-based Fishing Effort Survey, and Access Point Angler Intercept Surveys.

The former involves a randomly chosen sample of for-hire captains. The latter two are voluntary, but anglers are strongly (Continued on next page)

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Saltwater Fishing in Maine

resources reveals a very different picture.

Within the Bureau of Marine Science is the Division of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat, which focuses on diadromous fish like river herring, Atlantic salmon and

(Continued from page 25)

encouraged to participate, as results help guide more informed management decisions (and don’t worry, nobody is going to reveal your prime fishing

spot).

Shared Assets Add to Numbers That’s really about it for full-time staff, but a closer look of shared

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striped bass. Herring are critically important because they are the food base for many – perhaps most – of our important commercial and recreational saltwater fish species. If they’re not properly managed for commercial and recreational use, the domino effect could be catastrophic.

Meanwhile, our striped bass fishery is a huge recreational and economic resource. “All these programs fit together at the assessment level,” says Wilson, “then break apart at the management level.”

Federal Participation But the effort isn’t just shared within the Department, or the State.

Because marine fish can

and often do move freely across state lines and between state and federal jurisdiction – the latter of which also overlap – and even between international waters – management is a lot more complicated than it is for inland fish species.

Recognizing they could accomplish far more through cooperation than individual effort, the Atlantic coast states formed the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) in 1942. Members of this group share resources and data with each other and with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and most coastal fishery resources are (Continued on next page)

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Just like you’d expect from Honda.

Patrick Keliher was first appointed as DMR Commissioner by former Gov. Paul LePage, and was reappointed

by Gov. Janet Mills. He is a registered Maine Guide and a former charter boat captain. Credit: Department of Marine Resources (Continued from page 26)

managed under this compact.

28-inch Minimum on Stripers – Why it Happened Striped bass, one of Maine’s keystone recreational fish species offers a good example of how the system works, and where we are at.

Maine regulators recently adjusted the striped bass regulations to address continued declines in the resource, and the changes were not especially well-received.

The previous framework, which involved a slot limit between 20 and 26 inches, was, in my opinion, a very progressive and biologically-sound approach.

Keliher agreed, probably in part because he was one of the creators.

More, younger individuals can be removed from the population with less impact on the resource.

Those fish are healthier for consumers, as there is less bio-accumulation of heavy metals and toxins, and let’s face it, there’s less waste.

In 2014, ASMFC’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved an amendment to their Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass requiring coastal states to implement a 25 percent harvest reduction from 2013 levels. While a proposed 24- to 26-inch

slot limit received favorable comment and made far more sense biologically, Maine went instead to a 28 inch minimum length.

Keliher explained why. At that time, each jurisdiction (state) had different regulations. This, according to the ASMFC Technical Committee, made it very difficult to assess population size, a necessary element to developing future management plans.

“We still could have gone with a slot, but it would have made that process far more difficult,” said Keliher. “It also could have resulted in periodic closures during the fishing season, which is already relatively short here in Maine.”

So it only made sense to align with the other Atlantic states.

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Next month, in the conclusion of the author’s discussion with the Commissioner – More on striped bass, as well as a discussion about haddock, cod, black sea bass, bonito, shad, carp and halibut.

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SportVentures.net).

¶

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28 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Try a Bluefish on Fly! Bluefish have been pretty scarce the past few seasons, but August is their month to make an appearance.

Every year is different, and many of us are hoping we’ll get a return to the “good ol’ days” of big schools of jumbo blues cruising on the surface.

Catching blues with any sort of tackle is a blast, but hooking and landing one on a fly is the pinnacle of sport with this voracious species. Yup, taking Maine bluefish on a fly rod is a real kick, but it’s not always easy, so you have to rig up properly and even employ a special trick or two.

Drift to Within 15 – 20 Yards Most of the best bluefishing here is sight fishing, whereby you cast a fly to fish spotted moving along on the surface.

On calm days, blues often gather in schools of varying sizes and move slowly with their fins out of water. You can often work your way in close, and if you idle upwind and ahead of the fish, then shut the motor off, chances are you’ll drift back to within 10 or 15 yards of them.

Shoot your fly well ahead of the lead fish, let it sit there until the school approaches, then begin your retrieve. If you’re using a topwater popper,

strip it back smartly and make as much noise and splash with it as you can.

If you’re using a streamer, twitch it back with erratic, foot-long strips.

Either way, hang on – the strike will be jolting!

Be a Tease But sometimes it’s difficult to maneuver the boat close enough to get a decent cast off, especially if there’s any amount of breeze in your face. This is when a hookless teaser (such as a disarmed Atom Striper Swiper, Creek Chub Striper Strike, or Yo-Zuri Hydro Tiger) cast on a spinning outfit really shines.

This requires the buddy system. Have a friend cast the plug out as close

Tossing a hookless topwater popper on spin gear into a school of surface-cruising bluefish will often draw a few of the fish close to the boat -- well within range of even a novice fly caster. Jean Reese-Gibson photo

to the school as possible, and retrieve it speedily on the surface with lots of pops and splash. In most cases a half-dozen blues will peel off from the main school and turn inside out trying to chase down the teaser.

When the fish are lured in to within fly casting range, throw your streamer out just ahead of the oncoming teaser and strip it in rapidly.

You can even hold the rod between your knees and strip with both hands for extra speed. Chances are, one of the blues will spot the fly, quickly inhale it, and the battle is on.

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with a matching reel featuring a basic drag system can cost under $150 (Cortland’s Fairplay 8/9 weight rod-and-reel outfit retails for just $79.95), and decent lines (I like a floating line for poppers and a sink-tip for streamers) can be purchased for as little as $30. No matter what fly line you choose, you’ll need 100 yards or more of 30-pound Dacron or superbraid backing.

On the business end of the fly line, you can attach a tapered mono or fluorocarbon leader. Five to seven feet is plenty of length (I cut mine back from the butt end) and I like a tippet of at least 20-pound test.

At the end of the tippet, I attach four inches of #6 single-strand stain(Continued on next page)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 29 (Continued from page 28)

less wire via an Albright Special knot as insurance against sharp teeth, and attach the fly to the wire with a simple haywire twist. There are loads of videos on YouTube detailing how to make both these connections.

Streamers and Poppers Just about any streamer tied on a 1/0 to 3/0 hook will work. A Deceiver or Clouser Minnow works well.

If you want to tie your own streamer, think three to five inches long, and sparser rather than bulkier. Color doesn’t seem to be critical (although you can’t beat chartreuse), but a little Mylar dressing will give it a bit of extra flash.

Foam or balsa poppers fashioned around a 2/0 or 3/0 hook will work fine if you’re looking for

topwater action.

Where to Fish Good areas to look for cruising blues include river mouths and just about any stretch of open ocean within a couple of miles offshore.

Very often, when a midsummer northwest breeze dies down in late morning, the surface will get glassy for an hour or so before the southwest wind picks up. This is when blues often come to the top and cruise with their wakes clearly visible – perfect conditions for sight-casting and spin-teasing.

Maine regulations allow a daily bag limit of three blues per person per day, but there is no minimum size limit. Flies and lures cannot have more than two treble hooks.

Hooking a jumbo bluefish on a fly rod is about as exciting as it gets!

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30 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Teaching Your Dog the WHOA! Command

by Michael Browning, Grouse Haven Wing Shooting Nothing is more irritating than when a pointing dog chases after a bird and bumps all the other birds around.

You want your dog to be as steady and controlled as possible, and you can’t have any of that unless your dog understands Whoa.

When is Whoa used?

Teaching the command Whoa is imperative to the development of a pointing dog. It’s a foundational element of gun dog training.

It also serves as a safety command, such as when the two of you are crossing a road, or find yourself in any other situation in which you want to your dog to stop in its tracks.

The Whoa command is used when the dog goes on point. Their instincts encourage them stop on point, but the Whoa command directs them not to move.

The command is also used for “Steady to wing and shot.” The bird comes up, and the hunter shoots and drops the bird. The dog remains at Whoa (stationary) until the hunter releases him.

Likewise with “Stop to flush.” When a bird flushes wild without the dog acknowledging its scent, but if the dog sees the bird, the dog will stop at Whoa.

After several training sessions, the dog will know when to stop at a bird flush, or if the dog points and the hunter shoots the bird.

Eventually the hunter won’t even need to give the Whoa command – the dog will know.

So how do you teach the Whoa command?

“Placement Board” Teaching your pointing dog to Whoa can be a relatively easy training drill.

A lot of people will

Placeboard. All photos by Michael Browning www.MaineSportsman.com

snap a check cord on their pup, walk a few feet, then tug on the cord while commanding Whoa.

Now, this can work, and I did it for years with my dogs, but there is an easier way, and the pup will comprehend the Whoa command much faster.

A “placement board” is used for introducing a pup to Whoa. All you need is a board 3 feet long and 3 feet wide. You can make one yourself out of 2x4s covered with a piece of plywood. It doesn’t need to be extravagant – just a place for the dog to stand.

The reason for the board is that dogs are place-oriented, and they’ll associate the board as a familiar and safe place to be.

Snap a check cord on your dog, and gradually walk toward the board.

When the pup first steps on the board, I usually help by picking the pup

Whoa with check cord on placeboard.

up and placing it standing on the board, softly repeating “Whoa.” I will only hold the dog there for no more than 10 seconds. Reward the pup with a treat before it comes off the board.

I’ll bring the board in the house and introduce it to a pup when the pup is as young as 10 weeks old. That will certainly help when you transition to outdoor work and the pup is already accustomed to the board.

Next Steps When training on the board, make sure to keep a check cord on the dog, and keep the sessions on the board quick – no more than 10 seconds at a time.

Do this a few times a day at first. Then increase the time as the dog is comfortable and understands the drill.

Every time you want the pup to move off the board, give a command, “Okay” with a tap on the

head. The reason for the tap on the head after “Okay” is to make the pup understand from the beginning not to move after “Whoa” until you tap their head.

Here’s another training drill that will come in handy later on in the field.

Walk the pup around for a few seconds and walk back to the board. After a few times, the dog will anticipate what you expect and walk on with ease, standing there waiting for a treat.

You can increase the distance over time.

As the pup understands the concept of Whoa when all four feet are on the board, the pup will know to stop. When the pup progresses, increase your distance.

Eventually, you can walk 200 yards out and back with the dog rock-steady on the board! Walk circles around the dog while (Continued on next page)

Whoa on placeboard without check cord.

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 31

Increasing the distance.

(Continued from page 30)

softly repeating Whoa.

Onto the Training Field Once the dog has mastered the place board with the understanding of Whoa, you can move onto the field. You will only need the place board for a tune-up if the dog conveniently forgets what Whoa means – and believe me, all dogs can.

Take a 30-foot check cord, hook the snap to the collar and wrap the cord under the dog’s belly to make a half-hitch knot.

The loop will be under the dog’s belly or flank. You

Half-hitch around flank.

can pull the rope in a loop and tie off. It looks like a suitcase handle. This way you can walk beside the dog, command Whoa and tighten the check cord.

The pup will know what Whoa means, but since you’ve taken the place board away, it might take you a few tries. Eventually, the pup will comprehend Whoa means stop wherever you are.

Final Training This last step is to take an e-collar and place it around the dog’s belly in the same vicinity as the half-hitch knot was

Whoa without board.

before. Now take the dog back to the place board.

For this exercise you will be using only the “page” function (vibration) on the stimulation collar.

Walk the dog to the place board, doing the same routine, saying Whoa once. If the dog moves off the board, push and hold the stimulation button until the dog figures out to put all four feet on the board and not move. As soon as all four paws are back on the board, let off the button.

Some dogs are stubborn and you might have to turn up the stimulation, but not too high –

start off low.

You can move to the field when the dog has been on the board and understands the light stimulation means, Whoa, don’t move!

Field Work, and Moment of Truth With the transition to the field, keep the check cord with the half hitch.

Let the dog walk out a little bit and command Whoa, while simultaneously pulling on the cord and pushing the stimulation button. The dog should stop instantly.

When the dog masters this drill, you can move

onto the moment of truth.

Take the check cord off and leave the e-collar on the dog’s belly. Let the dog run out in front of you 50 feet, get ready to push the stimulation button as soon as you command Whoa. The dog should Whoa with ease.

This process can take between two weeks and a month, depending on the dog’s ability. These basic fundamentals of the Whoa process are the building blocks to birdwork such as “Steady to wing and shot” and “Stop to flush.”

¶

MAINE WILDLIFE QUIZ: Chain Pickerel

by Steve Vose

The chain pickerel (Esox niger) ranks among the most aggressive of all game fish.

Though primarily fish-eaters, pickerel will take just about any kind of food, including frogs, crayfish and mice.

Their explosive strikes and desire to attack just about any kind of lure offered to them, make them a favorite of young and old anglers alike. While native to Maine, the home range of the pickerel stretches far beyond our state boundaries, into the Midwest and southern United States.

According to Inland Fisheries & Wildlife biologists, most pickerel caught in Maine range from 14 to19 inches, and weigh an average of 2 to 3 pounds.

The state record, caught in 1992 in An-

droscoggin Lake, weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces. The largest pickerel in the U.S. was caught in Georgia in 1961, and weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces.

Members of the Esocidae family of fishes, pickerel are closely related to muskellunge and Northern pike. Pickerel have scaled gill covers and green bodies marked by yellow-green areas broken by dark, interconnecting lines resembling the links of a chain.

This unusual color pattern provides this

ambush predator with excellent camouflage for staking out edges of weed beds, where it prefers to lay silently in wait for prey.

Pickerel possess a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that serve to both protect the fish from predators and provide unsuspecting anglers with an unpleasant surprise.

When water temperatures begin to rise in the spring, pickerel move into the shallows to spawn. Females lay gelatinous strings of eggs up to 3 feet long over vegetation, sticks and logs which are then fertilized by the males.

After fertilization, the parents abandon the eggs, forcing the fry to fend for themselves. In the wild, pickerel live approximately 7-9 years.

Questions 1. What do pickerel prefer to eat?

5. How heavy was the largest pickerel caught in Maine?

2. Are pickerel native to Maine?

6. How can a pickerel be identified?

3. What is the home range of the pickerel?

7. What feature of the pickerel must anglers be very careful to avoid?

4. What is the average length and weight of an adult pickerel in Maine?

8. How long do pickerel live in the wild?

Answers on Page 70 www.MaineSportsman.com

32 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

A Buck Hunter’s Life:

My First Buck

by Lee Schanz, Jr.

“Deer!” I hollered to my hunting partner as I pushed the safety off my left-handed 870.

The deer was a goodsized doe, and I was ready to shoot my first deer at the age of 13.

As it turned out, my life was about to change forever. Almost immediately, a giant buck jumped up out of the bed they were sharing and followed her.

I already had my 12-gauge shouldered, and I gave the buck a magnum load of 00 buck at close range.

The big whitetail went down behind some brush, but was struggling to get back up. Before I could give it another charge of buckshot, Gary cried, “Don’t shoot!” He didn’t want me to put another 15 pellets into the deer and ruin any more venison.

My memory is a little fuzzy, as this happened 40 years ago, but I think the buck was only about 25 feet from me when it piled up. My partner put a 300 Savage, 180 grain slug into its neck to end the hunt.

“Good shot,” he said, “That’s a nice buck!” It was a nice buck, especially for a 13-year old kid who had never shot one.

Little did I know that

If I could go back in time to 1979, I would tell my younger self to cherish my surroundings a little more. The area north of Moosehead was perfect deer habitat, with selective cutting, small clearcuts, and old-growth spruce and cedar bogs. I learned the art of tracking, and in a five-year stretch I shot four bucks, each weighing more than 235 pounds.

The buck that started it all (200 lbs.), and a young Lee Schanz, Jr. (left)

in the years to come I would shoot several more bucks that weighed over 200 pounds within 10 miles of that very spot.

Good Ole Days If I could go back in time, I would tell my younger self to cherish my surroundings a little more. In 1979, this area north of Moosehead was just being exposed to mechanized logging on a large scale.

The place where I

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Two big bucks in one morning: Lee’s 239 lbs., and Rick Barker’s 190 lbs.

had shot my first buck was perfect deer habitat.

There were hardwood ridges nearby that had been selectively cut with cable skidders. There were small clear-cuts that used to hold softwood (predominately fir), and then there was old growth spruce and cedar bogs which could still hold deer through the winter.

There was snow on the ground when I shot my first buck, and I remember snow going down the collar of my jacket as we pushed through the thick black growth.

We were in this spot because there were lots of deer tracks, but to say we were tracking would be stretching it. As a matter of fact, I don’t know that I had yet heard the term “deer tracker.”

That was about to change. Within a year, I would read Larry Benoit’s book “How to Bag the Biggest Buck of Your Life.” It would plant a seed in me that eventually grew into a career.

Schanz’s Guide Service and BWB In the 1980s and 1990s, I did quite a lot of deer hunting. I had learned how to track and still-hunt big bucks up north. In a 5-year stretch, I killed 4 bucks all over 235 lbs. That will hook you on an area fast!

I had also grown tired of my management job, and decided to start my own outfitting business called “Schanz’s Guide Service.”

Outfitting is a hard business to break into.

You have to be more than just a good woodsman,

hunter, and fisherman.

You need to have some decent people-skills.

If you’re going to own camps like I do, you also have to be a carpenter, electrician, and plumber.

It also helps to be lucky. I was fortunate to meet Hal Blood around 2000, and because he had done everything about 10 years before me, he was a great source of information on how things should be done. He was also generous with his guides when I needed them.

Sometime in the early 2000s, Chris Dalti and Hal formed Big Woods Bucks with this core group of guides. I’ve been with them from the beginning. The memories we’ve shared are precious to me. In hindsight, I haven’t just been lucky – I’ve been blessed.

Hal Blood Adds His Thoughts I like Lee, have fond memories of my first deer. For a hunter, it is the first milestone in their hunting career.

I also read Larry Benoit’s book when I was a teenager, and wanted to try tracking buck in the North Country. Although I was tracking rabbits in the winter when I was ten years old, tracking snow was rare in southern Maine during deer season.

I met Lee as a result of seeing an article about him in The Maine Sportsman back in 2000.

I called Lee after reading the article, as I knew that we must have a lot in common.

As a result of that article and telephone call, (Continued on next page)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 33

Second-Class Bass Every now and then, life sends you a curve.

You are not expecting it … but it comes anyway.

The event sets you back. It challenges the idea of who you thought you were, only to realize and acknowledge who you really are. But you have to plug on.

Such a life event happened to me the other day.

Formerly Sought Real Fish My buddy Island Boy and I were fishing a warm water pond in central Maine. It was an early morning expedition, and a successful one. Watching a June sunrise and catching fish cast after cast is not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

Years ago, Mike and I always caught real fish.

Brook trout, landlocked salmon and togue were the objects of our pursuits. From the Belgrades to Sebago, Lake Auburn to Moosehead, these were fishing trips worth the time and effort.

Of course, trolling around the north bay of Moosehead in our 12ft. boat and 6-hp motor,

The two anglers waved at us from their 20-foot bass boat, all rigged up with a 250-hp motor, 10 fishing rods, 20 pounds of plastic worms, and even a power talon to hold the boat steady in shallow water. Could those have been waves of acknowledgment of our evolution, and acceptance into the Fraternal Order of Bass Fishermen?

If so, please don’t tell my brothers.

The author recently experienced a wave of self-awareness, and is now prepared to declare himself a bass fisherman.

Ed Pineau photo

hour after hour without as much as a strike, was hard. We would take a break from catching “good” fish and resort to a couple of days catching some “trash fish.”

The author is moving through the stages of becoming a bass fisherman -- after denial, then acceptance. Photo

by Ed Pineau

Don’t Tell Anyone We would head over to Parker Pond or Echo Lake, Tilton, or Torsey to land some bass and pickerel. We knew we were wasting our time on these ponds, but it was kinda

fun landing 24-inch pickerel and 5- to 7-lb. bass.

We didn’t tell anyone what we were up to – we just couldn’t take the embarrassment and snickers of real fishermen looking down their

sunburned noses at us.

No self- respecting Maine angler would be caught dead admitting to such foolishness.

Yeah, as we were out there this past Saturday, here comes a 20-foot bass boat, all rigged up – 250-hp motor, 10 fishing rods, 20 pounds of plastic worms, and even a power talon to use in shallow water.

The two anglers waved to us with their SPF-covered arms as they sped by.

Welcome to the Bass-anglers Club Mike turned to me, a horrified expression on his face.

“My God,” he exclaimed, “look what we have become!” as he reeled in a 4-pounder.

Sitting in my 18-foot Lund, with electric motor mounted on the bow, a special gizmo for an anchor lock, a powerful 4-stroke powertrain, and six casting rods by my side, I have to admit it.

As the wife says, I have become a “second class bass fisherman.”

Please don’t tell my brothers.

¶

Big Woods World (Continued from page 32)

Even the author’s wife Cate is prepared to embrace “Her Husband the Bass Fisherman.” Ed Pineau photo

we have become lifelong friends. Although we grew up in different areas and our career paths early in life were different, we both ended up choosing the same path in the end.

I’m nine years older than Lee, so I got a head start in the Outfitting business. I was glad to share some insights with him into the business, as I had to learn it by trial-and-error.

Lee is one of those gems in life who is like a younger brother to me!

¶

Lee Schanz, Jr. www.MaineSportsman.com

34 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Who Knew Trout Could Be BIG GAME?!

Okay, trout aren’t usually considered big game, but some people chase giant trout with every bit of the tenacity and drive others put into hunting big bucks. Over the last eight years, I’ve been one of those people. I am determined to catch a 20-inch, five-pound brook trout. To me, a brookie of this stature is in every way the equivalent of a 200-pound whitetail.

Ten years ago, I barely fished for trout and salmon in Maine. I thought all the giants were gone.

I was wrong. Maine still has some great salmonid fishing!

Maine Waters Still Hold Giants I know Maine still has some giant trout and salmon because I’ve come close to the five-pound mark on brook trout.

I have friends who’ve caught seven-pounders in western Maine. I’ve seen great pictures of huge trout on Facebook too. I search fishing pages and the pages of friends to see who’s catching the big ones. That’s how I found out about the new state record splake caught this past May. A splake is a cross between a male brook trout and a female lake trout.

The coolest thing about this catch? I know the person who caught it.

has now turned into an annual “family trip.”

Ciera and her dad were trolling that morning and approaching a “honey hole.” Ciera and Richard are accustomed to catching 11- to 17-inch brook trout in this body of water. Nobody expected what was about to happen.

Ciera Hamlin and her father Richard pose with the new state record splake. The fish was 29 inches long and weighed 11.38 pounds. Ciera says her father taught her everything she knows about fishing. He must be a great teacher -- she landed this giant on eight pound test line! Photo courtesy of the Hamlin family

Ciera Hamlin is the fisherman who landed this giant, and this is her exclusive story.

She Used Her Lucky Lure Ciera and her father Richard were fishing with good friends on their annual trip to Frost Pond near Ripogenus Dam

(Map 50, D-2), around 8:00 am on Saturday, May 18, 2019.

Ciera was using her “lucky lure,” a black and white 3/8ths-ounce weeping willow with rainbow glitter and a red dot on the back. Ciera has been slaying trout with this particular lure for over

four years. Her father jokingly told me, “She out-fishes all of us with that thing”.

Ciera and her dad have been fishing Frost Pond with friends for many years. What started as Richard and friends making the annual trip when they were younger,

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Thought it was a Rock When the fish first hit the lure, Ciera thought she’d snagged a rock and asked her father to stop the boat. She kept the line tight and held the rod tip in the air so her dad could see where she was snagged. As they approached the spot, there was no bottom visible.

Ciera explained, “I was really confused when I couldn’t see bottom.” She told me she even pulled on the line a bit to try and unhook from “the rock.”

Still frustrated, she handed the rod to her father to see if he could retrieve her lucky lure.

Richard said, “As soon as she handed me the rod, I felt the familiar pull of a fish.” Richard quickly handed the rod back to Ciera and said, “Reel that in – there’s a fish on there!”

Ciera had originally loosened her drag so she wouldn’t lose that lucky lure. Now she tightened the drag and got to work.

“She Played It Like a Pro” Her father explained that at first, the fish “came up from the bottom quickly.” When they got their first look at it, they had no idea what it was. Admittedly, Richard thought it might be a cat(Continued on next page)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 35 (Continued from page 34)

fish or something weird.

“We catch nothing but small to medium brookies in that pond – we weren’t expecting anything like this,” he said.

Ciera played the fish like a pro, according to her Dad. She let the lunker take line when it wanted. Although she was outwardly calm, Ciera explained she was “shaking really bad. I was cold, I had no idea what kind of fish it was and I was really excited.”

She fought the fish on her 6.5-foot Ugly Stick, a Shimano reel and 8-pound test. She needed to be careful. “Each time I’d reel a bunch of line in, it would take it all back on a long run toward the bottom.”

Her father constantly encouraged her: “You’re doing a great job. You just need to tire him out.” The fish made one last run, and Ciera took the line back. After 20-plus minutes, they had the giant at the side of the boat.

Lure Out; Hole in Net As soon as Richard got the fish into the net, the lure came out of its mouth. As Richard lifted the fish into the boat, he realized the back of the net had broken. Part of the fish was actually hanging out. But they brought it in over the side and into the boat.

When they finally stopped celebrating, they were confused by what they saw. Was it a brook trout? Was it a splake?

Ciera had never even heard of a splake to that point.

Their family friend Eric explained the differences between the two types of fish, and they were still stumped. The tail wasn’t fully square, nor was it fully forked.

The group finally took some time to celebrate, whooping and cheering.

This was a special fish for sure.

Ciera pulled out her fish scale and weighed the fish. It bottomed out at 10 pounds. The team

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settled down, packed the fish on ice and went back to their campsite to make a celebratory feast. Before they cooked, Ciera held the fish up for everyone to see and photograph.

After breakfast, the team brought the fish to Gene, the owner of Frost Pond Camps. Gene took one look at the adipose fin and declared it a Splake.

Gene had a high-quality digital scale and weighed it for Ciera. The scale read 11.37, and Gene let them know this was a new state record.

They needed to get to a certified scale. It was off to Greenville and the Indian Hill Trading Post.

Upon arriving at the store, they asked to weigh the fish on a certified scale. At 11.38 pounds, this amazing fish is Maine’s new state record splake.

Ciera gave credit to her father for teaching her everything she knows about fishing. She also thanked her friends

Eric and Norm for inviting them along on the trip, “even though they don’t want me back next year because I out fished them.”

Congratulations Ciera on a truly amazing, once in a lifetime fish!

¶

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36 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Aroostook’s Backwoods Brookies and Bronzebacks August is a wonderfully rewarding month for topwater action on smallmouth bass.

Most of the productive lakes, ponds, and streams are found toward the southern end of Aroostook. Baskahegan, Pleasant, Mattawamkeag, and East Grand Lakes, along with the Penobscot River, are mainstays for bronzeback surface fishing during this month’s humid, dog-day weather.

However, there are a handful of more remote, lesser-known smallmouth waters with many more fish and far fewer fishermen, and they are worth the travel and effort.

Snowshoe Smallies Although Snowshoe Lake is 638 acres, it only reaches a maximum depth of 44 feet, so water temperatures are very suitable for bass and pickerel. There are yellow perch as well, while one deep basin and the thoroughfare with Grand Lake Seboeis attract a

If you are pursuing bragging-size brute smallmouth bass at Snowshoe Lake, let me offer one money saving tip based on my own sad experience – use an 18- to 24-inch piece of at least 10-lb. test fluorocarbon leader as a shock tippet on each rod. This tough tippet will reduce the chance that a razor-toothed pickerel as long as your forearm will cut off your $10 baits.

On many of the spring- and creek-fed lakes near Allagash, if the dry flies don’t temp trout, often a leech pattern -- like the black one in this trout’s jaw -- worked along the shallows, will draw a strike. All photos by Bill Graves

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Use I95 or Route 11 to get to the village of Shin Pond, then locate Snowshoe Road at the north end of the Upper Shin Pond waterway and follow it north to the lake.

There is also a 10-mile gravel road from the Shin Pond-Matagamon Road that will get you there.

Check out Delorme’s Gazetteer, Map 57, D-4 & E-4 for an overview, but avoid the spiderweb of other road options that appear to be – but aren’t really – shorter.

Lures; Locations A Rebel POPR in shad color and a Heddon Torpedo in green and black are on my two lightweight spinning rods to start every visit to Snowshoe Lake.

For backups, I suggest an Arbogast Hula Popper in frog-orange belly, Zara Spook, or a Creek Chub Knuckle-head.

I also keep a third rod rigged and ready with a 5” black-with-blue-sparkles Senko worm in a wacky rig – this works great around weed beds and in large rock fields.

While I’ve caught my largest bronzeback at Snowshoe Lake after sundown, there’s still plenty of topwater action right in the middle of the day.

One money-saving tip I might offer from sad experience: use an 18- to 24-inch piece of at least 10-lb. test fluorocarbon leader as a shock tippet on each rod. This short tippet sometimes keeps razor-toothed pickerel as long as your forearm from cutting off ten-dollar baits.

Suffer the washboard (Continued on next page)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 37

Snowshoe Lake boasts plenty of bronzebacks and fairly light angling pressure. Some of the bass are brutes, like the one shown by Tom Wolters of Michigan.

(Continued from page 36)

road and long ride to visit Snowshoe – it’s a cool place on a hot summer day.

Backwoods Brookies Over a dozen years ago, Bernard (“Bun”) Bird of Fort Fairfield, a friend and fishing buddy, convinced me to make the long drive to the north woods beyond Allagash.

His camp there had a small pond nearby, and his fly fishing fables – with supporting photos – convinced me to travel.

These days, a summer doesn’t pass without at least one sojourn to Bun’s warm-weather trout hole that he always called Fall Brook Lake, and its healthy population of orange-bellied brookies.

Actually named Fall’s Pond, it’s tightly enveloped in forest, but with a couple of rough campsites and only a carry-in launch, fishing pressure is minimal. It features rough roads, humid, hot weather, hummingbird-size mosquitoes, and blood-thirsty black flies – but still the dry fly and wet fly action overshadows the hurdles.

Load your canoe or 14- to 16-foot Jon boat and head up Route 11 or 161 to Fort Kent, then drive 161 past Allagash to Dickey and the Little Black Checkpoint. From there its gravel road and two-tracks to lake shore and launch site; peruse your DeLorme Atlas, Map 66, D-4 to chart your course.

Cory Bouchard of New Hampshire and Roger Shaw of Mars Hill enjoy a double hookup on smallmouth bass while casting topwater baits.

As the season progresses, many of the trout in Allagash ponds and even the streams around Escourt exhibit beautiful orange tinges along their bellies.

Proven front-line options include a Mosquito, gray Slim Jim, Henryville Special and a Blue Dun in size 14 or 16. Wet flies should have a bit of flash, like a Trout Fin, Parmachene Belle, or Royal Coachman. I favor a nine-foot tapered leader and use 7 1/2-foot rod.

Casting along the edges while a partner poles or paddles will provide steady action.

Little Falls Pond; Little Black River If you can arrange a full day or perhaps a weekend in the Allagash/ Escourt area, in addition to Fall’s Pond, I’d also suggest a few hours on nearby Little Falls Pond.

A carry-in launch and camp are available, and it’s less than five miles up the Hafey Road from its sister waterway.

Fly casting conditions are fairly tight on this smaller pond, but doable.

Another good option is a short spinning or spin cast rod with a spinner and angleworm. Most days the trout are hungry and not terribly choosy.

I’ve always enjoyed wading and casting more than boat fishing, so my favorite alternative

Writer Bill Graves displays a hefty bronzeback. The Senko 5” black-withgreen-sparkles worm is very effective on sunny days when it’s Texas- or wacky-rigged.

How hot is topwater bass action in August? On rare occasions it’s possible to hook two at a time on a Heddon Torpedo -- proof is in the picture.

when I’m in the Tiptop of Aroostook is one section or another of the long and winding Little Black River or its short off-shoot, Rocky Brook. Unless you live in Fort Kent or Allagash region, these streams are really considered remote; this and their length and many access points lead to seldom seeing another angler.

Canoes and small boats can certainly be used on many stretches of Little Black, but wading remains the best way to cover water, especially on Rocky Brook. Fly fishing is top rate, but fishermen must pick and choose pools and runs or lose a lot of flies in

the brush and tree canopy. Bait casters will fare much better, and even on hot, sunny days there are shaded stretches and bank undercuts where 6 – 10 inch native brookies abound and fight to bite a “garden hackle.”

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¶

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 39

Spring Night Hunters It all started early one evening in March, 1987.

I was returning home from meeting Warden Jim Ross in Pittsfield, with supplies that I had picked up for him at our storehouse in Augusta earlier in the day. A s usual, we met at Wright’s Emporium for a cup of coffee. After catching up on what was going on around the area and giving Jim his requested supplies, I headed back toward Unity, while Jim started back across country toward Cornville.

I traveled down Peltoma Avenue out of Pittsfield, across the Sebasticook River and down the Horseback.

Shortly after crossing Meadow Brook, I met an older Chevy Nova which was northbound on the Horseback. To this day, I don’t know what it was that grabbed my attention, but I remember thinking as I met the car, “Those guys are night hunting.”

I shut off my lights and turned on them.

By the time they got to Meadow Brook, I was behind them.

Illuminating the Field I followed along without lights through the S-turn and on toward the big fields just north of Meadow Brook.

As we broke out of the woods and into an area with big fields on both sides of the road, I stopped and watched them.

They proceeded on for another couple hundred yards, and then turned crossways in the road and started illuminating the field with their headlights. A spotlight also

When a warden approaches a vehicle full of suspected night hunters – especially after a high-speed chase during which the suspects toss evidence out their vehicle’s windows – they never know what they’re going to encounter.

To this day, I don’t know what it was that grabbed my attention, but I remember thinking as I met the Chevy Nova containing a driver and three passengers, “Those guys are night hunting.” Photo credit: Gateway Classics

was shining from the vehicle.

song, and the chase was on.

Nowhere to Hide They started turning to come back, so I had to get out of sight in a hurry. I couldn’t turn on my lights because they would have seen me, so I turned and headed south on the Horseback.

However, it was an especially dark night with no moon and no place on that little piece of road to get out of sight. I quickly decided to just pull over to the side of the road and wait for them without lights. Within seconds, they came up behind me.

They obviously recognized my vehicle, because when they went by the old Nova was singing her

High Speed Chase I activated my blue lights and siren, and advised the Augusta State Police barracks that I was 10-33, 10-63 (high speed chase with night hunters) southbound on the Horseback in Burnham.

By the time we got to the S-turn, I had closed the gap and was tucked in tight behind them.

Coming out of the first kink in the S-turn, the Nova got to jumping sideways with dried mud and dust rolling out from under it. Finally the operator got it straightened out.

As we were both coming out of the second

turn, I saw what looked like a jug come out the passenger’s side window, followed by a long gun.

I advised the barracks that they had just thrown out a firearm and shortly after that that the suspect vehicle was pulling over.

I remember hearing Warden Jim Ross, with siren in the background, advising the barracks that he was en route. That was a welcome transmission to hear. As I recall, Trooper Pete Hardwick was also headed my way to assist.

You Never Know When a warden approaches a vehicle at night, they never know what they’re going to encounter. This night, I

was quite surprised to see four local young men packed into the Nova.

I took the keys and then their IDs. I had the driver stand in front of their car, the front seat passenger stand in front of my car, left one passenger in the backseat and interviewed the other backseat passenger in my vehicle.

However, he was not feeling particularly talkative, so I put him back in the back seat of the Nova and got the other guy out.

He was much more willing to explain what was going on.

Finding the Evidence Warden Ross arrived at the scene and helped search for the evidence that had been thrown from the vehicle. The jug that I had seen thrown out of the vehicle was in fact an antifreeze jug with part of the side cut out and holding a motorcycle battery hot-wired to a headlight bulb. This was their makeshift spotlight.

The Rifle, and the Guilty Plea The long gun that I saw come out of the window was a newly-purchased .22 Hornet rifle.

When they threw the gun, it didn’t clear the guardrails. The stock was completely shattered, and the barrel had quite a kink in it. I remember Jim picking up pieces of the stock and putting them in a sandwich bag.

In the end, all four young men pleaded guilty to night hunting in Belfast District Court, paid their $500 fine and went to jail for three days.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

40 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

— Special Feature —

Introducing The Maine Sportsman Catch-and-Release Club

by Will Lund Many years ago, the Maine Sportsman took over Maine’s “One that Didn’t Get Away” club, which – together with the Biggest Bucks and other recognition programs – had previously been operated by the State of Maine.

Over the years, astute readers have pointed out that the certification process for large fish – being weighed on a certified scale with witnesses – was not consistent with the angler being able to release the fish alive afterwards.

But catch-and-release is a practice with many followers, whether for conservation or other reasons. And with advances in modern technology – especially the increased resolution of smartphonebased cameras – we here at the Sportsman understand that it’s time to offer recognition to skilled or lucky anglers who land, then release, a trophy fish.

Different Measures Called For The most obvious modification required to existing rules is a “conversion” of a fish’s weight – the current measure, available only to those planning to keep the fish out of water – to length, which is relatively easy to determine and photograph aboard a boat or ashore before releasing a fish.

We were immeasurably assisted in this effort by fisheries expert Wes Ashe, who developed a conversion table of weight to length, using actual archived data from fish measured by DIF&W biologists The current “One that Didn’t Get Away” weights, and the equivalent lengths that will rewww.MaineSportsman.com

ceive recognition under the Catch-and-Release program, are listed in the chart below.

Other Details So now we have the weight-to-length equivalents – how about the other rules? We were again fortunate to have as a resource a very interested party – a kayak-angler and ardent catch-and-release practitioner, Sam Cushing.

Cushing researched the rules of New England and East Coast states, including New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Here are the qualifying criteria, and our determinations: 1) Affidavit required?

Yes. We will be posting the affidavit/application online on or before August 1, 2019.

2) Photographs required? Yes, we have adopted a modified ap-

proach developed by Connecticut: At least two photos must accompany the application: First, a photo of the angler holding the fish; and second, a photo of the fish next to a measuring device (yardstick, ruler or tape measure) that clearly shows the length of the fish.

3) Witness required?

No witness will be required for the new Maine program. While at least one state requires a witness to be present for the measurement, we recognize that many anglers fish alone.

4) Form of Recognition? A patch will be awarded, similar to what has been used on the traditional “One that Didn’t Get Away” program, except that a “Catch and Release” designation will be added to the patch. We will also be looking into metal pins and/or stickers as future enhancements to the program.

5) Limit on submissions per year? As is the case in New Hampshire, applicants are limited to three submissions per year per species.

6) Eligible anglers? The contest may be entered by any angler who holds a valid State of Maine fishing license, and who catches the fish in Maine in a legal manner.

7) Time limits? Any fish caught, measured and photographed after January 1, 2019 is eligible for the 2019 program; the 2020 program will run January 1 – December 31, 2020. Anglers have 45 days after a fish is caught to apply for club membership.

8) Use of photographs?

Photos may be included on the Maine Sportsman’s website, or in the magazine. However, this is a non-exclusive use – the angler is free to use or post the photograph elsewhere.

What Length Fish Gets You Into the Club?

FRESHWATER SPECIES

Many anglers, like Ryan Leach of Farmingdale, have followed a catchand-release practice for years. Ryan landed this salmon while fly fishing on the Magalloway River on June 10, 2019, before placing the fish carefully back into the cold water.

CURRENT WEIGHT NEW CATCH & THRESHOLD RELEASE LENGTH

Black Crappie.....................2 lbs.......................... 16” Blueback Trout...................2 lbs...........................17’ Bluegill............................. 0.5 lbs........................ 10” Brook Trout........................4 lbs.......................... 20” Brown Trout.......................6 lbs.......................... 25” Chain Pickerel....................4 lbs.......................... 26” Common Carp...................12 lbs......................... 28” Cusk...................................15 lbs......................... 38” Fallfish................................2 lbs.......................... 18” Lake Whitefish...................4 lbs.......................... 21” Landlocked Salmon............6 lbs.......................... 27” Largemouth Bass...............7 lbs.......................... 21” Muskellunge......................20 lbs......................... 42” Northern Pike....................15 lbs......................... 40” Pumpkinseed Sunfish....... 0.5 lbs........................ 10” Rainbow Trout....................5 lbs.......................... 22” Smallmouth Bass...............5 lbs.......................... 20” Splake.................................4 lbs.......................... 21” Togue.................................15 lbs......................... 33” Walleye...............................4 lbs.......................... 22” White Catfish.....................4 lbs.......................... 20” White Perch...................... 1.5 lbs........................ 15” Yellow Perch........................1 lb.......................... 13”

9) Name of the Program? Despite the temptation to be imaginative (three suggestions based on the current “One that Didn’t Get Away Club,” were “Swim Another Day” Club, “One I Couldn’t Weigh” Club and “No Filet Today” Club), our panel of experts decided the “Maine Sportsman Catch-and-Release Club” moniker fits just fine.

What Does the Future Hold?

After determining the level of interest and participation, our staff will work to develop ways to display and celebrate the success of catch-and-release fishermen, as well as those participating in our traditional “One That Didn’t Get Away” Club.

We will also review enhancements to the basic program that have been adopted by some other states, such as offering “master angler” recognition for those who are awarded multiple patches or pins. Other states compile and publish annual reports of their programs’ results.

And then there’s the letter from a reader we received July 2, 2019: “Does The Maine Sportsman recognize trophy striped bass?”

The answer is: Not yet, but we will talk to the saltwater experts at the Department of Marine Resources, and request their input. ***** To find the application for membership in the new Catch-and Release Club, go to www.MaineSportsman.com, click on “Patch Club Forms” and find the corresponding patch and link.

¶

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 41

Matching Your Tactics to the Warmer Water For big trout in lakes and ponds, deep trolling brings the most reliable results now. Coldwater game fish have long since taken residence in the thermocline – that layer of cool, well-oxygenated water that forms in summer when lakes and ponds stratify.

What’s more, by August even fish stocked earlier this year have become acclimated to their new surroundings and have become fat and full of fight. Some fish grow faster than others, with brook trout on the lower end and rainbow trout on the high end.

One more method of fishing for big trout pays off in dividends now, and that’s night fishing. This requires stout rods and lines and big, splashy lures.

Brown trout, especially, become active after dark, and if fished for in the correct manner, will smash lures and flies with a vengeance.

And finally, August sees trout in streams congregated in deeper, spring-fed holes. Here, they rest in often large groups, gently finning

Night fishing is not for the faint of heart. Dangers include stepping in holes, tripping over unseen objects and even encounters with animals. Once, as I stood mid-stream in the pitch-dark, a Saint Bernard dog splashed out into the stream to check me out. The sound of a large animal bounding toward me through the water scared me half to death.

Deep trolling in summer takes togue like this one. Tom Seymour photo

as they lay, suspended, over sandy and gravelly bottoms.

So August, usually the hottest month of the year, has many pleasant surprises in store for anglers who are willing to partake of them.

Deep Trolling Downriggers prove their worth now, as anglers plumb the depths for trout, salmon and togue. And it’s worth repeating the old adage that artificial lures take more fish, but bait takes larger fish.

In view of this, I often combine the two, either

by fishing a live baitfish on one rod and a lure on the other, or by fishing a baitfish trolled behind metal, either a dodger or a set of lake trolling spoons.

But first, before choosing our terminal gear, we must locate the thermocline. A fish locator can do this very efficiently.

Just look for where most fish congregate. This can be in relatively shallow water, perhaps 30 feet or so, or deeper down near the 50-foot mark. After locating the thermocline, set your gear out and begin trolling.

When fishing alone, I like to use one downrigger rod and one lead-core outfit. It’s almost impossible for a solo angler to manage two downriggers at the same time, so fishing a lead-core outfit at a lesser depth (most salmonids except for togue will happily dash up to nail a passing lure or bait) solves the problem.

As for terminal gear, a set of lake trolls on the

lead-core outfit, with a small golden shiner or preserved smelt fished about three feet behind the lake trolls, works well for me. For the downrigger rod, I use either a live shiner behind a silver-color dodger, or a Mooselook Wobbler Midget. The reason for the small-size Mooselook is that it matches the size of smelt born that spring.

With both these outfits in the water, my confidence, like a tandem streamer in a salmon chop, rides high.

Night Fishing Not for the faint of heart, night fishing has its pitfalls and rewards, and given that the largest trout in a stream bite at night, the rewards outweigh the pitfalls.

Dangers of night fishing include stepping in holes, tripping over unseen objects and even encounters with animals.

Once, a Saint Bernard (Continued on page 43)

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Late-Summer Trout and Salmon: Persistence is the Key Fly fishing for trout and salmon in late summer is usually best described by the following adjectives: dismal, dreadful, depressing, or just dead. But every so often very different descriptors are appropriate, such as productive, and even outrageous or unforgettable.

Weather is the wild-

card. During our increasingly typical hot and dry summers, surface water temperatures rise and river levels drop to the point where dissolved oxygen levels are below the comfort zone for salmonids. Trout and salmon skedaddle to deep water haunts, or find spring holes and cold-water

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seeps. If trapped in warmer waters, they don’t feed.

Tough Fishing That’s what makes it tough, because our quarry is either unreachable or will only eat a fly if the pattern is placed literally on its nose.

Last year at the beginning of September, Maine weather was Arizona-like. I fished for parts of six straight days in waters I know well. I saw nothing and caught less. It was as if the same derailed rail car full of 20,000 gallons of weed-killer chemicals that exterminated every trout for 45 miles on the Sacramento River in 1991 had fallen into my home river.

I eventually stopped fishing, and wet-waded the low and warm water, plucking streamer flies from recently exposed rocks: patterns lost by

anglers fishing the high water of spring. A dozen Black Ghost streamers soon adorned the patch on my fly-fishing vest, like ornaments on a Xmas tree. My experience is typical of summer salmon fishing (if you don’t like deep-water trolling). … Unless it rains.

Years ago, my daughter and recent son-in-law, Brian, an avid angler, were coming up to visit us at our lake house. He was full of anticipation because he wanted to hook his first landlocked salmon, and a nearby river could be accommodating in that regard when salmon migrated upriver.

I cautioned Brian. He was arriving in early August, water temps were in the low 70s, and no one had caught a salmon in weeks.

Then, several days before the newly-wed

couple were due to arrive, a remnant of a tropical storm swept through the area and dumped four inches of rain. The river swelled to bank full and water temps dropped to the low 60s.

Landlocked Salmon My son-in-law arrived eager to fish, but I was still skeptical. I didn’t think there were any landlocks in the river, and the water was running high.

Nevertheless, we drove over to one of the most productive salmon pools in the river. At the tail of this pool a current seam runs past a huge boulder. If salmon could be found in this stretch of river, it was as good a spot as any.

The water was so high that to reach the holding water, my bearded six(Continued on next page)

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Low water and 16 hours of summer sun exposure will warm even mountain rivers to temperatures too high for trout and salmon.

(Continued from page 42)

foot five son-in-law had to wade out chest deep.

He looked like a young Moses, waiting for God to part the Red Sea, except with a fly rod instead of a staff.

There is a fine line between deep wading and treading water, and Brian was inching right up to it. He was nymphing with two tungsten beadhead nymphs and two split shot with six feet of tippet under his strike indicator.

Deep-water nymphing is one of the most difficult fly-fishing tactics to pull off, but I agreed with his approach.

I was up at the head of the pool trying to fish a few pockets where the water seemed less turbulent, when I thought I heard him yell. I couldn’t

really hear him over the roar of the water, but I could see the bend of the rod, and the glistening shape of a salmon appear as if magic in the sky above his head.

Brian managed to land and release the fish without swamping, and he repeated that feat well over a dozen times as big salmon jumped, ran up and down the pool, burrowed deep, or just came flopping in.

It was among the best landlocked fishing I had seen. Obviously, the deluge had brought a fresh school of salmon upriver.

Eventually, Brian came to shore with a salmon in net so I could shoot a few photos. He then sat on the bank exhausted, but with a grin as big as a full moon.

Trout Fishing (Continued from page 41)

dog splashed out in the stream to check me out. I was standing mid-stream, and the sound of a large animal approaching scared me half to death. Besides all that, lights of any kind put fish down, making it necessary to fish in pitch-blackness. Also, new moon ranks as the best time, since even bright moonlight puts trout on edge.

The reward for all this is the chance to take a truly huge trout. Once, I selected a pool on a small river that, while it often held freshly stocked trout, had never put out a carryover fish. This told me that the pool – a large, deep one – must contain a resident monster, a cannibal brown trout

Other mid-summer storms have produced similar riverine results when cooling and rising water released trout and salmon from their watery prisons and allowed them to rampage and chase prey aggressively to regain weight lost when they couldn’t feed.

Flying Ants The summer doldrums impact lakes too.

Calm surface waters that had been pock-marked with rises on June evenings now lay still, shimmering under the summer sun like molten metal, nothing disturbing their surface except the occasional swimmer trying to beat the heat. One day, I watched a disoriented grasshopper swim 30 yards from shore over the course of an hour,

The author’s son-in-law Brian is shown here happily holding a nice landlocked salmon. Lou Zambello photos

completely safe from being eaten as the hot surface water acted like a Star Wars forcefield.

But on a memorable late-summer day, the lake surface was suddenly covered with black specks, like black pepper on a sunny-side-up fried egg. Then an obvious slurp caught my attention, and then another, and another. Soon twenty, thirty, or more trout were cruising the surface, sipping a half dozen of these specks before heading down to cooler water for a bit and then returning to the surface. I ran to the dock and realized those specks were flying ants fluttering through the air; crawling on the dock, my boat, and in my hair; and of course, blundering into the lake.

that defended its territory by either eating or driving away any smaller competitors.

My hunch, it turned out, was correct.

The way to fish to these secretive trophies is to use large, dark-colored lures.

Poppers work well, as do massive, all-black wet flies tied with lots of marabou.

To fish an area like this, begin at the head of a pool, making short casts. Let the lure splash, and then wait a moment before bringing it back in as noisy a way as possible. Only after probing all nearby spots should you begin lengthening your casts. If a big brown is on the prowl, it will probably hit your offering. And though it may sound like a nuisance, make sure to carry a large, long-handled landing net.

Regarding that big trout whose existence

Several times a year, ant colonies will grow winged adults that congregate in mating swarms to eventually fall to earth and start new colonies.

Nature’s creatures move to the emergent feast, including birds, dragonflies, and other predators such as brook trout, which have a special appetite for ants.

During this manifestation, any fly fisher with an ant pattern can cast ahead of a cruising fish, and almost be guaranteed a hook-up.

Summer trout and salmon fly fishing can be an exercise in futility, except when it suddenly isn’t. Being on the water and observant allows you to take advantage of these fleeting opportunities.

¶

I surmised, it hit my lure, and the battle was on. This was the largest freshwater fish to ever bite on my line.

We fought it out for some time and the ambient light allowed me to glimpse the fish – light-colored, with huge spots.

But suddenly, as things were going well, my line snapped. Upon consideration, I decided that a wind knot had formed in the blackness without my knowing it, thus weakening my line. So check for knots, and use a heavy line. The trout of a lifetime may live in that stream or river near you.

So while others pursue bass and other warmwater species during the Dog Days of August, the knowledgeable trout angler can keep busy taking trout and salmon, despite the heat.

¶

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44 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Plan Well, Hike Often, Live LARGE! Back in the 1990s I had the good fortune to be able to hang around and get a close-up view of a very successful NASCAR modified race team.

Since then, that team has won nine national championships.

In many ways, I consider life as a race, and have applied some of the things I observed then to my outdoor adventures.

I can point to one clear reason for the NASCAR team’s sustained success – preparation.

Most folks think auto races are won on Sunday afternoon. However, insiders know that most successful race teams win their event somewhere between Monday and Friday – by properly preparing their race car and driver.

Preparing for a Hike I’m currently preparing for another excursion into Baxter State Park.

Here, too, preparation is key. Truth be told, I enjoy getting ready for my next expedition. While our trip won’t rise to the level of an assault on Mount Everest, I don’t want the three guys I’m traveling with to have a lousy time.

Pack Weight Not a Problem on This Trip Fortunately, this foray to the Little East campsite, located at the

Like a NASCAR race, an outdoor expedition’s success is not determined on the day of the event. Rather, it’s the advance preparation and planning that make the difference. Here, the author covers some of the basics, including how to plan food, and how to ensure reliable recharging power to your GPS and cameras.

Before heading into the back country in Baxter State Park, the author likes to lay out all his gear, making lists as each items gets loaded into his backpack. There’s no excuse for forgetting to include something important like a water purifier or first aid kit. The time spent getting ready always pays huge dividends when boots hit the ground. Bill Sheldon photo

outlet of Webster Stream at Lake Matagamon, has a water travel element to it. We plan to motor to the site from the boat ramp, which is located between Lake Matagamon Campground and the gatehouse at Baxter State Park.

This affords me and my motley crew the luxury of bringing some extra gear and food that my backpacking trips don’t

normally allow.

Usually, my backpack weighs in at just 38 pounds … a very minimalist approach to back country travel. I’m looking forward to the boat carrying in a few extra gadgets.

Food!

Meal planning can run the gamut from campers who survive on

granola bars, trail mix and filtered water, to those who bring storebought dehydrated/freeze dried meals.

For lightweight backpacking, I have an assortment of dehydrated meals I make myself that range from “Lazy Lasagna” to a “Breakfast Quiche.”

These meals are tasty, weigh hardly anything, and don’t costs anymore

than the standard eat-athome meal.

However, given the luxury provided by having a boat loaded with one of those large Yeti coolers, I’m planning a little more robust dining.

First, I take the total number of fishermen – four, in our case – and multiply by the number of meals required each day.

It sounds silly, but larger groups can consume a surprising amount of food. Among the four of us, I came up with 56 servings, taking into account breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

The points here – put it on paper, make a list, and bring extra food if possible. If you bring too much, you can share it with others.

A few years ago, I hiked into Russell Pond solo. I don’t normally recommend hiking solo, but the park has a pretty good sign in/sign out system, and I did it during a busy time with plenty of other hikers coming and going.

Anyway, I gave my extra meals to some campers I met at Russell Pond.

Mostly, I wanted them to sample my homemade dehydrated meals, but in addition, they looked like they could really use a hot meal. It also saved (Continued on next page)

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me from carrying out a small amount of weight.

Essentials I can pack for a solo trip in jig time. I have a couple of shelves in my basement dedicated to camping gear. Grab one of my three tents, throw in a ground mat, select the sleeping bag that suits the temperature range, pick up my mess kit, stove, rain gear, toiletries – you name it; I got a shelf for it.

One very important, absolute must for back country travel – a way to purify water – should never stay at home. I prefer the water filter system

by MSR that allows me to pump pond or stream water through a ceramic filter directly into my water bottles.

Some folks use iodine pills, while others boil their water. For me, boiling consumes too much fuel. I haven’t tested some of the newer products like

LifeStraw, a product that allows users to drink purified water through a filtered straw.

Because I have to pump all my drinking, cooking and dish cleaning water through a filter, I’ve come to appreciate just how much water one uses during a hot August day. The consequences of

not purifying water, even in a pristine park like Baxter, can easily end (think diarrhea) the most well-planned trip.

Maine State Bird When hiking Baxter State Park during the dog days of summer, plan on a battle with Maine’s unofficial state bird – the BLACK FLY. While the

Discover the

folks at the State House list Maine’s official state bird as the chickadee, real Mainer’s tip their net-draped cap to the black fly.

My long sleeved BuzzOff shirt from L.L.Bean always finds a spot near the top of my backpack.

Designed for fishermen, this multi-pocket shirt

Katahdin Region

goes next to my Bug Cap. No, I don’t always need it, but never leave home in the summer without those two articles of clothing. And for good measure, the top left pocket of the shirt contains a small bottle of bug dope.

Solar Power Electronic gadgets (Continued on next page)

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46 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Katahdin Country (Continued from page 45)

have found their way into my camping world. My

smart phone serves double duty as camera and

GPS. With no cell service in the remote areas, I turn my phone to Airplane Mode to save battery life.

Fortunately, that still allows for camera and GPS use. The Earthmate GPS works off the satellite system, and doesn’t require cell service.

Because the boat will be doing all the heavy lifting on the Webster Stream trip, two GoPro cameras will also make the voyage.

With the phone in airplane mode, it doesn’t use much battery at all, because it’s not constantly searching for a cell tow-

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Come for the Lakes, Stay for a Lifetime •

13 Lakes & Ponds

er that doesn’t exist. By shutting it off at night and when I’m not planning on taking photos, I’ve gotten three days of use from the battery with no problem.

The GoPros will be another story.

Enter in sun power.

I’m testing a folding solar charger by Big Blue.

This fairly inexpensive charging device grabs the sun’s rays and spits out power via two USB ports. At-home tests have shown good results. We’ll see if it’s worth the 21 ounces it will add to a backpack.

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Hiking the Entire Appalachian Trail A Long Walk Home – Part 2 Last month, Christi told of embarking on her long trip north from Georgia toward Maine on the Appalachian Trail in 2011. She spoke of “trail angels” who leave food and water along the route. She revealed that only about 30% of hikers complete the trip – mostly due to psychological, rather than physical, reasons. And she disabused readers of any romantic notions of the long hike, describing sunburn, bug bites and blisters.

Near the end of Part 1, she mentioned “trail names” that are assigned to, or earned by, every thru-hiker.

I often hiked with two middle-aged men from New York – Porter, named because he portaged his wife’s gear, and Pace, who not only set the pace, but also had a pacemaker.

Other trail names in-

fore I arrived at the same cooler that had been left by a trail angel • Spike – he hiked all day carrying a railroad spike another hiker had snuck in his pack as a joke • Click – a photographer who carried a DSLR • Captain Planet – he picked up trash along the trail • South Butt – the opposite of North Face • Caboose – she always hiked in the back of the group • Calf – he had huge calves Check out the trail name generator at www. thetrek.com to see what your trail name would be!

And at the northern terminus of the AT, Baxter Peak, what do thru-hikers do? Why, celebrate, of course!

cluded: • Timber – he once knocked down the tree while attempting to hang

Unhappiness is when another hiker, “Bear Bait,” gets to the Little Debbie’s snack cakes before you do.

his bear bag • Bear Bait – his food was stolen by a hungry black bear, and – to

my immense disappointment – he ate an entire box of Little Debbie’s snack cakes moments be-

Celsius to Fahrenheit The Smoky Mountains in March were cold, but Virginia in June was hot. I bought a light(Continued on page 49)

Nearing the end -- on the Knife’s Edge at Katahdin. www.MaineSportsman.com

48 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

More Information for the New Trapper In the July issue I addressed some basic information for the new trapper about 1) fur storage, and 2) cold-weather land trapping.

This month, I present information on trap sizes and types used for the various furbearers that are harvested in Maine.

Although individual trapper preferences vary, the following are the “normal types and sizes” of trap recommended by most trappers and manufacturers for the furbearers listed. Various manufacturers make different configurations of traps that fall into the same general category.

An example would be a

Under most circumstances, a trapper must employ an exclusion device when using body grip traps on land, and the body grip trap may not exceed an inside spread of 5 inches.

MB type of coil spring and a Bridger coil spring, or a dogless, compared to a dog-and-pan style trap.

If one looks at their construction, there is a physical difference in their appearance, although they function in a like manner.

In Maine there are restrictions on the inside jaw spread of any foothold trap set on land in the designated Canadian Lynx zones. The jaw spread may not exceed 5-3/8ths inches. In general, any trap of a size 2 or larger requires modifica-

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tion to be legal for use in these zones.

All traps must be center swiveled and contain two more swivels in the chain assembly. A trap must also be placed in a manner that prevents entanglement.

Body-grip traps have severe restrictions of their sizes and placement on both land and in the water. In general, on land they must be used in conjunction with an exclusion device. There are several exceptions in that a body grip with inside dimensions that do not exceed 5 inches may be used if no bait or lure is used in a blind set, set as to be partially cover by water, or set under an overhanging bank.

Remember: Read all trapping regulations carefully to ensure you are in complete compliance with the law. If you do not understand a specific law, call your local

warden to clarify it.

Aquatic-Related Furbearers Muskrat are trapped utilizing the size 110 body grip trap. Some are also taken with the double-spring 120 and 155 size body grips, although they are more powerful than needed.

Muskrat are also trapped by the use of foothold traps sizes 1 and 1-½. This includes long spring, jump and coil spring traps. These should be utilized in a drowning set to ensure a humane catch. If a drowning set cannot be made, then a “stop loss configuration” of either the long spring or jump type should be utilized.

Sadly, jump traps of any size or configuration are no longer manufactured.

Mink are trapped using the same types and sizes of traps utilized for the muskrat. The foot-

hold types should also be set as a drowning set, ensuring a humane take of the mink. Some trappers prefer to utilize a size 11 double long spring for mink, which is simply a double spring number 1 trap.

Otter are trapped with size 220, 280 and 330 body grip traps. The 220 and 280 are more specific for the otter, whereas the 330 is on the large size, and an otter may sometimes swim through the trap without firing it.

Otter are also taken by the use of double long spring foothold traps in sizes 3, 4 and 5 or the jump style of trap in sizes 3 and 4, which may include traps, configured as a number 13 or 14. Other trappers favor coil spring traps in like sizes.

Beaver are trapped by the use of size 280 and 330 body grip traps, although the smaller 220 may be used in smaller streams by trappers. The size 3, 4 and 5 double long spring and size 3 and 4 jump traps (including the (Continued on next page)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 49

Common configurations of body grip traps.

(Continued from page 48)

size 13 and 14 configurations) are used. The larger size 4 and 5 coil spring traps are also used. The foothold traps should be used in a drowning set or under the ice. Snares are also utilized by many while trapping under the ice.

Land Furbearers Coyote are trapped using coil spring foothold traps in sizes 1 ¾ through size 3. In addition, the double long spring in size 3 is favored by some.

Fox (Red and Gray) are normally trapped today with size 1-½ and 1-¾ coil spring traps. The size number 2 coil spring is getting on the large size for fox, but used by many where both fox and coyote are targeted.

Marten may be trapped with size 1 and 1-½ foothold traps. Most marten today are taken by the use of 120 and 155 size body grip traps. I n Maine today a trapper must use an exclusion device when using body grip traps on land. If an exclusion device is used, you are currently restricted by law to a body grip trap not to exceed an inside spread of 5 inches.

Fisher are trapped with coils spring traps in sizes 1-½ through 2.

The double long spring in size 2 is also utilized. The current law of having to use an exclusion device with body grip traps has greatly reduced the take of fisher. Many trappers have stopped trapping fisher with body grips.

Maine Sportswoman (Continued from page 47)

er sleeping bag and mailed my down one home. Unfortunately, the lighter bag I purchased was a little too light. I wasn’t much for converting the temperature rating from Celsius to degrees on the German-made sleeping bag and my first few nights in the new bag were cold.

I commented to one hiker that if the weather remained cold, a group of hikers might need to snuggle up at night in the shelters just to stay warm. After that, the hiker, Crop Duster, would text me whenever the forecast called for cooler weather and ask if I needed a snuggle buddy.

Yes, he was dubbed Crop Duster for being gassy, and thus always hiked in the back of the group. Fortunate for me, I hiked faster than him, and evenings eventually warmed up.

Dreaming of Food When I finally got to Maine, my parents came to meet me and brought a spread of food. Hiking 12 hours a day with a 20-lb. pack meant I could eat it all.

Common configurations of foot hold traps.

In the past, the size 160 and 220 were the favored body grip.

Weasel today are most commonly trapped in a small baited box with a wooden-based rattrap inside. Sometimes a size 1-½ long spring or jump trap is set inside the box instead of a rattrap. The access hole in the box may not exceed 2 inches in diameter. All these traps kill the weasel instantly in the same manner as a small body grip trap would.

Opossum are most commonly trapped with a size 1 or 1-½ foothold trap of any type, or with body grip traps in sizes 120, 155 or 160. The required use of exclusion devices has all but eliminated the use of a body grip trap.

Skunk are most commonly trapped with a size 1 or 1-½ foothold trap.

Many trappers use a double-jawed trap to prevent possible foot damage caused by the skunk itself. Body grip traps in sizes 120, 155 or 160 were used in the past. The required use of exclusion devices has all but eliminated the use of body gripping traps.

Raccoon may be caught in either an aquatic or an upland environment. When trapped by water it is most desirable to take them in a humane drowning set. On the other hand, when raccoon are trapped in the uplands, the same size traps are utilized.

The more commonly-used traps are the 1-½

I dreamt about food. I ate entire pizzas, half-gallons of ice cream, hot dogs, and always got dessert.

Food is discussed daily among hikers.

“What’s the most caloric dense food?” was a topic one evening. We were all getting sick of eating the same foods for months, and agreed that butter was probably the answer. Butter wasn’t too practical to carry in the summer and didn’t taste good on its own, so I opted for entire packages of Oreos and Fritos, since they don’t crush as easily as other chips.

Pace, and Gear The other topics hikers discuss ad nauseam are pace and gear. Everyone asks what day you started, and the faster hiker obviously needs to slow down and enjoy the trail more.

Then there’s the topic of gear. Inflatable sleeping pad or foam? Water filter or iodine tablets? Homemade soda can stove or gas stove? Tent or hammock?

When I finished the AT, I went to a party and literally didn’t know what to talk about.

I had managed to remove myself from current events and only talk about food and

coil spring and the size 11 double long spring.

On land a double-jawed trap may be desirable to prevent the raccoon from damaging its own foot, like the skunk. The required use of exclusion devices has eliminated the use of midsized body grip traps for raccoon.

They were the preferred trap for raccoon.

Bobcat are most commonly trapped with the size 1-¾ to size 3 coil spring trap. The double long spring and jump traps in size 3 are another good trap. As with the raccoon, the required use of exclusion devices has eliminated the use of body gripping traps for the bobcat. The size 220 was the favored body grip trap.

¶

gear for nearly five months.

In a way, taking on such a major physical feat made me lazy – or, as I would prefer to think of it, efficient. A trail sign pointing down a side trail reading, “Excellent views: 400 feet” was quickly dismissed.

“I have 2,181 miles to walk – no way I’m going to walk an optional extra 800 feet,” I would think to myself.

Finally Done I summitted Katahdin and completed my thru hike in August.

Completing the trail made me realize that I could do anything, and the next year I hiked 500 miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

I don’t eat entire pizzas anymore, but – thinking back to that trail angel’s snack box that had been emptied by “Bear Bait” way back on the trail in Pennsylvania just before I got there – I still get excited over Little Debbie’s.

Christi Holmes is a Registered Maine Guide.

She can be reached at ChristiHolmes87@ gmail.com or on Instagram @christiholmes

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

50 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

2019 Maine Sportsman Youth Writing Contest Winner: New England Senior Category

A Hunter’s Lottery

by Isabella “Bella” Milazzo – 11th Grade – Poultney, Vermont He would’ve loved this, I thought. A whole week in the beautiful outdoors with the chance to hunt for a once-in-a-lifetime trophy. My grandfather had been chosen to receive a moose hunting permit, but since he had died a few months earlier while on a hunting trip with me and could not use the tag, the state transferred it under my name.

I climbed out of the truck and loaded my gun.

It was the final day of my big hunt in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and I hadn’t shot anything but a coyote.

My dad and my second shooter, Keith Mason, were both standing next to me. My dad had grown up in the city, and began hunting with my mom in college. My grandfather – my mother’s father – was my dad’s greatest influence when it came to hunting.

The second shooter, Keith, grew up in Vermont and has been hunting his whole life, much of that time with my grandfather.

Promising Spot Once we made it out of the clear cut and into the hardwoods, we fought

es. My feet warmed on the heated floors through my boots as I entered the lodge. I flopped onto the couch, toasty from the crackling fire beside it, and sat staring at the 1930s moose mount looking down on me from above.

“You got a moose for the game pole?”

I looked behind me and saw that Mark, the lodge owner, was standing behind the couch.

I shook my head.

Mark walked around the couch and sat beside me.

The author’s family shared their love of outdoor sports with her at a very early age. Here, Bella’s grandfather shows her a whitetail buck he shot in 2002, when the author was 6 months old.

our way through fallen trees and a muddy bog.

When we got to our spot, we sat on our stumps.

Almost every bush had been grazed on by moose, so this spot held promise for us.

We sat calling for about an hour, watching the thick brush rustle with partridge and rabbits.

Isabella Milazzo scans a clearcut looking for a trophy moose in the North East Kingdom of Vermont in the fall of 2018. Bella’s beloved grandfather and hunting companion, “PopPop,” had recently passed away, and the state transferred his moose permit to his granddaughter.

As the sun began to set, I took one last look around our calling spot, where we’d spent a lot of the week. Then we headed out.

Emerging from the woods one final time, I thought back at all of the amazing memories I was leaving with. I really wanted to get a moose, I thought. I wanted to get

one for my grandfather.

Unloaded for the Last Time I opened the action of my rifle and unloaded it for the last time. I put the cartridges in my bag, climbed into Keith’s white Ford, and we drove back to Jackson’s Lodge.

The door creaked as it swung on its rusty hing-

Not About the Hunt “You know, I’ve been on moose hunts, and if there’s one thing I learned it’s that it’s not always about the trophy.

It’s about the experience, and in this case a once-ina-lifetime one, devoted to the legacy of your grandfather. I’m sure he’d be proud of you.”

It was at that moment I realized that what Mark had said to me was true. The hunt was for my grandfather, and moose or not, it was about the experience. The memories, the legacy, and the people I’m with are what make hunting truly matter.

¶

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 51

The Moose River Bow Trip in 30 Minutes!

I rate the Moose River Bow Trip – among Maine’s most iconic canoe routes – as one of my best trips I’ve ever paddled.

This multi-day, 34mile waterway winds its way through pristine backcountry where moose roam unbothered by modern development.

By including Holeb Pond and Attean Pond in the route, the Moose River trip makes a loop that allows water travelers to start and end at the boat ramp on Attean Pond (DeLorme Atlas, Map 39, B-4).

Most folks paddle across Attean Pond, make the 1.2-mile portage to Holeb Pond, exit Holeb Pond at Holeb

Stream and paddle to the intersection of the Moose River.

To avoid the 1.2-mile portage, some river-runners drive to Holeb Pond and start from there.

This is an excellent strategy when traveling with young children or adults who might lose interest quickly when confronted with a portage so early in the trip.

The confluence of Holeb Stream and the Moose River has a sandy shoreline, and when I was there last time, a slew of moose tracks showed evidence that these huge animals patrolled the water’s edge. It pays to keep a sharp eye peeled for wildlife throughout the

34-mile trek.

Eventually, the Moose River reconnects with Attean Pond and a short paddle to the previously-mentioned boat ramp.

While we utilized traditional canoes, some water travelers prefer kayaks.

Paddlers should plan to utilize a craft large enough to hold at least three days’ worth of river camping gear.

The river runs relatively flat most of the way, but the trip has some fast water spots sprinkled in for good measure. The internet has plenty of technical information and testimonials to help newbies successfully navigate this iconic route.

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(Continued on next page)

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a sometimes slippery trail. We simply tied a rope to the bow and stern and safely guided our canoe through the fast water from the shoreline.

Good rope and tight knots are a mandatory element of a successful effort.

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Portage Tricks Depending on water levels, it’s a good idea to portage or “line” Lower Camel Rips. It’s better to play it safe than to end up with a lot of wet gear and a funny story to tell.

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52 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Jackman Region

(Continued from page 51)

defined portage trail on the north side of the river. Spend some time enjoying and photographing this breathtaking natural

wonder.

The next challenge, Mosquito Rips, provides another portage or lining situation. Once again, water levels play into this decision. We played it safe and lined our canoes. We also lined Spencer Rips.

Attean Falls, a series of rapids that requires two separate portages, was all that kept us from the milder Attean Pond.

We arrived later in the day and all the campsites full. A group of kayakers played in the white water.

Deciding to “go for it” meant running the fast water in a fully loaded canoe. I dug deep, paddled hard and felt a sigh of relief when the rapids spit us out into the tail water. We were on our way to a campsite along the shore of Attean Pond.

The next day we cruised triumphantly towards our final destination, the boat ramp.

Flying High!

Thinking back on that trip, I decided I wanted to do it again. However, time and commitments have a way of keeping these things from happening.

Then, on a whim, I called Jim Schoenmann, guide and pilot for Jackman Air, to inquire about doing the Moose River Bow Trip by air. That’s right – a bird’s eye view of Maine’s iconic canoe trip.

I’ve had a little bit of exposure to small planes, thanks in part to my son Matt acquiring his private pilot license before he was old enough to have a driver’s license.

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 53

Garlic-Rosemary Duck My husband Don and I were talking about some of my peculiars tastes. I can remember as far back as eating ketchup and Alphabet cereal on toast. I don’t remember how old I was, maybe 5. My brother Chris said that by the time I finished spelling words on my toast, it was as hard as a rock. Maybe that

is why I really love things that are crunchy – the crunchier the better!

This dish is in my Wild Maine Recipes cookbook, done with chicken. My recipes are very versatile to accommodate other game!

Send me the most outrageous dish you have ever eaten. I will publish it here, and

send you a cookbook with some “Out of the Ordinary” combinations for you to enjoy.

Bring it on people! Let me know you’re game.

Bon Appetit and Happy Healthy wild game meals!

Preheat oven to 300°F. Cut ½ inch of papery portion from garlic head to expose cloves, keeping cloves intact.

Place garlic in small baking dish. Pour vermouth over and season with salt and pepper.

Cover and bake until garlic is soft, about 90 minutes. Squeeze garlic out of each clove into

small bowl. Add chopped rosemary and mash to form smooth paste, and season with salt and pepper.

Using your fingertips, loosen skin over duck breast. Place garlic mixture under skin evenly covering breast. Season duck skin with salt and pepper.

Place on foil-lined baking sheet skin side up. Bake until browned and cooked through -- about 55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs and serve.

Serves 4.

Jackman Region

expect next. Anyone lacking an experienced guide or companion on the Bow Trip would benefit immensely from a big sky tour.

A second reason for taking to the air over the Moose River involves paddlers who simply want to see where they’ve traveled.

As I get older and the possibility of a return trip fades into sunset, I wouldn’t mind a trip over our route to relive that great adventure.

And off course, especially in the fall when the leaves turn, the photography options explode. I’d recommend, with the pilot’s blessing, hooking up a GoPro camera and recording the flight.

If you love garlic, this is your dish!

And to accompany the duck, I grilled orange, yellow and purple carrots along with a sweet potato and asparagus. The carrots were crunchy in the center with a sweet, smoky and caramel taste.

These carrots were the sweetest I’ve tasted in awhile!

Ingredients: • 2 large heads garlic • 1/3 cup dry vermouth • ½ cup fresh rosemary, chopped • 4 duck breasts • Salt and pepper • Rosemary sprigs for garnish • Vegetables for grilling

(Continued from page 52)

My oldest son, Will, works on the bigger stuff in the Air National Guard, servicing C-130 planes around the world.

People would ask me why I would let a 15-year old fly a plane. I usually responded that the dangerous part of his flying lessons was DRIVING him to the airport.

Moose River Flight!

Schoenmann offers an aerial Moose River Bow Trip that takes only 30 minutes. I know from flying with the boys that 30 minutes of flight time can cover a lot of ground.

While Jackman Air offers multiple trips, the Bow Trip run really caught my attention. A conversation with the friendly pilot opened my mind to a big-picture look at the Jackman Region.

On my previous canoe trip of the Bow, I was fortunate enough to have “Self Propelled Sportsman” columnist Jim Andrews with me. Andrews had run the trip before, so he clued me in along the way as to what to

More Flights!

For those looking to check out two of Maine’s premier whitewater rafting rivers, the Dead and Kennebec Rivers, that’ll take about an hour. This scenic flight includes Indian Pond, the Kennebec and Dead Rivers, along with the iconic Grand Falls.

Schoenmann also mentioned that folks like to travel along the border between the United States and Canada. That’s basically God’s country up there. He tells me its okay

¶

Pilot Joe Schoenmann from Jackman Air captured this stunning photo of the outlet of Attean Pond. The boat landing at Attean Pond serves as the beginning and end of the Moose River Bow Trip. A 30-minute flight will scout out the entire trip. Photo courtesy Jackman Air.

to fly into Canadian air space, but not okay to land.

I asked the friendly pilot if there was anything he’d like to share with folks nervous about flying.

“Well, it’s safer than driving, and there’s not much traffic up there,” he assured me.

I will report back to readers after I experience the 30-minute Bow Trip – from high above the Moose River.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

54 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Good Times on Moosehead Lake I simply cannot get enough of Moosehead Lake. Whether I’m out on the lake trolling or simply just enjoying the view from shore, Moosehead exudes a feeling of tranquility and contentment.

While you can count me in for a visit to Moosehead Lake any time of the year, August ranks as one of the most enjoyable times to visit Maine’s largest lake. The fish – salmon, brook trout and togue – always cooperate. But slow trolling on a still August morning stands as something extra special.

This August I plan to target some of the lake’s bigger togue. Sure, togue bite while trolling for salmon and trout, but the biggest fish usually fall to a slowly fished smelt, dead, alive or preserved. The addition of a set of lake trolls, spoons of a graduated size swinging about on a Monel-wrapped wire, does much to entice big, old, hungry togue.

For trout and salmon, my favorite venerable trolling lures for Moosehead include Li’l Jake, DB Smelt and Mooselook Wobbler.

My friend Bob Lawrence of Lawrence’s Lakeside Cabins in Rockwood shares the vision of going specifically for big togue, and to that end, we plan to hit the lake with monster togue in mind. Sure, we may not take a trophy, but it doesn’t hurt to plan big.

Moosehead History I recently had the pleasure of staying in an iconic sporting lodge on Moose River. Maynard’s Camps celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and my visit was like a step back in time.

The main lodge boasts artifacts from the region’s past, and the overall effect was like walking into a museum. The place just naturally evokes images of an earlier time when life’s pace was much slower and more peaceful. I could almost smell the smoke from 100-year-

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old pipes. And all those fish mounted on the wall had stories to tell, if only they could speak. While those days are long gone, it is possible to re-live them by visiting some of the older sporting lodges on and around Moosehead Lake, and Maynard’s certainly ranks as one of the oldest.

While sat in the dining room looking out over Moose River, it was easy for me to imagine anglers in the early days, sitting in the same place and viewing the same sight.

I took some nice fish, too. After boating down the river and into Moosehead Lake, I managed to land a 22-inch salmon and a 20-inch togue. Another fish hit only about 10 feet from shore and it felt like one of those huge Moosehead Lake brook trout. But as I attempted to swing my foot over the seat so as to face my fish, the hook pulled out. That, though,

only gives me a reason to return and hope for a repeat performance.

Favorite Trolling Lures Salmon and trout in Moosehead Lake have definite preferences for lure types, and some artificial offerings will take fish all day while others go begging. And, as mentioned in last month’s column, a new favorite emerges each year. But other lures have stood the test of time and continue to take fish day in and day out. Here are some lures that anyone fishing Moosehead Lake should consider.

First, Li’l Jake, a thick and heavy lure by Spin-A-Lure, looks like a shorter, wider version of a Super-Duper. But Li’l Jake has a fish-attracting action all its own. All species of coldwater game fish take this remarkable lure. And while Li’l Jake comes in various color combinations, for best

results stick to the brass body with red dots.

Mooselook Wobblers come next. Brecks offers these in a wide variety of color combinations, but for Moosehead Lake, make sure to have some “Wonderbread” Mooselooks on hand. Wonderbread sports a white body with blue and pink dots interspersed with splashes of yellow. Also, all-copper and copper-and-silver Mooselooks stand as dependable lures for the big lake. And some days, fish will only strike a DayGlo, orange-and-yellow Mooselook Wobbler, so try to stock up on these venerable but effective lures.

Finally, DB Smelt continues to take fish from Moosehead Lake.

This long, narrow trolling spoon assumes the shape of a small smelt. Colors vary, but silver-and-blue stand out among the best.

With just the lures mentioned here, your Moosehead Lake trolling adventure can see you tying on to some of Moosehead’s best trout, salmon and togue.

Bass, Unfortunately, Are Here, So Catch ’Em Much to the chagrin of fisheries biologists and responsible sportsmen, selfish people have illegally introduced smallmouth bass to waters in the Moosehead region.

Once established, these spiny-rayed interlopers become firmly entrenched and impossible to eradicate. However, some local anglers have taken to fishing for them, and their rewards are great.

Brassua Lake, a flow(Continued on page 57)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 55

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56 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Columnist Tom Roth’s Choice for Backwoods Travel This month readers will get a look into Tom Roth’s selection for an offroad vehicle. Roth pens the monthly “Sebago to Auburn Region” column in The Maine Sportsman, and has been connecting readers who enjoy hunting and fishing to this area of the state for many years. His outdoor activities take him way back into the woods of Maine, so I asked him to tell me about his off-road traveling choices.

“My favorite vehicle was my 1979 International Scout II,” began Roth. “It had good ground clearance, had a solid mo-

www.MaineSportsman.com

“I worked at a gas station in high school,” explained columnist Tom Roth. “I learned to get a vehicle unstuck and to change a tire. Back in the woods, if I didn’t fix my predicament, I would have to walk until I met someone.

That forced me to handle situations myself, a skill that has served me well in my adult life.” tor and was small enough to go anywhere. It had a roof rack so my canoe was easily thrown on top and taken where I needed to be.

“I missed having a truck bed for hauling things,” he continued, “so I sold that in 1990 and have owned a pickup truck ever since.”

American Made “Currently I have a Toyota Tundra,” Tom explained. “I went with a Toyota because of their reliability and longevity.

I had always been a ‘buy American’ guy, but an inventory of my outboards, ATVs and other small engines told me I had to broaden my mind a little.

Besides, the Tundras are

assembled in Texas.”

Tom intends to continue using the Tundra until the engine won’t turn over.

“I plan to run this one into the ground,” he said.

“It is loaded and I enjoy the roomy cab interior and leather heated seats – we appreciate these little things as we get older.

“I also like an open

bed when hauling home a deer. I hated to get the inside of my Scout full of blood, so that was part of my reasoning for switching back to a full-sized truck. I did haul my first deer, shot while in college, with that Scout. I still have a picture of that somewhere.”

First Truck “My first truck was a 1977 F250, High Boy, with a factory four-inch lift,” Tom recalled. “This was the era of monster trucks, so it was either a cool muscle car or a truck. I had a handyman business all through high (Continued on next page)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 57 (Continued from page 56)

school, so the truck would come in handy. My dad liked me having a truck so we didn’t have to dirty the inside of his immaculate Oldsmobile trunk if we hauled anything.”

Economy and safety were not high on Tom’s list at the time: “I only had a gas tank behind the seat in the cab – now considered a safety hazard,” he revealed.

“The bed tank was removed when it rusted out.

I got eight MPG with the 351cc engine, so I filled up a lot. I only ran out of gas once, and always had a gas can in back. Gas was 79 cents a gallon in 1984, so I could afford the bad mileage.

“I always over-maintain my vehicles,” he concluded, “a habit I got from my father. I think that is why I never had any mishaps while in the woods.

Sure I got ‘stuck’ a few times, but by jacking up the tire and placing rocks or logs under the tire, I always figured out a way to get free.

“I worked at a gas station in high school, so I knew how to change a tire. Getting unstuck and changing a tire are skills that I think too many young people don’t have these days. Everything is a cell-call away, or so it seems. If I didn’t

fix my predicament, I would have to walk until I met someone. That forced me to handle situations myself, a skill that has served me well in my adult life and career.”

Clunie’s Note Readers who have been following this column for a while will have noticed the evolution of a common thread ... a theme that runs through each of these columnists’ off-road selections.

And the common theme is this: These outdoorsy types have all sorts of different vehicles and accessories for traveling through the remote woods, but to get out of a jam, they all rely on their experience, and their sense of self-reliance and woodsmanship, rather than being dependent on high-tech devices or the latest off-road vehicles.

Experience and common sense take top priority over any kind of new gadget for, as Tom Roth puts it in the above interview, “fixing my predicament.” Every offroad traveler will get into some kind of a “predicament” at some point in their remote, off-road wandering ... it happens to us all. Be prepared with this knowledge, and go into the woods with confidence.

¶

Moosehead Report (Continued from page 54)

through lake on Moose River, now contains smallmouth bass. And as with any newly introduced species, they grow at exceptionally fast rates. The pity of smallmouths being illegally stocked in Brassua Lake is that Brassua always had a self-sustaining population of brook trout. These trout typically grew large and those specifically fishing for trout often did well. But now bass have invaded the place and in time, may have a negative impact upon brook trout spawning grounds.

So for Brassua Lake, the best thing we can do is fish for bass and kill our limit at every opportunity. If pursuing smallmouth bass at Brassua Lake, expect to find some large fish.

Roth’s first truck, purchased in 1984 -- a 1977 Ford F250.

Roth bought this 1979 International Scout in 1987.

A 1964 GTO “Muscle Car,” gets Roth to hunting and fishing destinations in a hurry.

Two other waters in the Moosehead region have become noted bass hotspots.

These are Prong Pond and Indian Pond. Of the two, Indian Pond gives up the largest bass, with 4- to 5-pound fish being relatively common. Both Prong Pond and Indian Pond have good access roads, except it’s a lengthy drive into Indian Pond. But the end result is worth the effort. Additionally, Indian Pond has some public campsites, so hard-core bass fans can camp and fish to their hearts’ content.

Look for Brassua Lake on the DeLorme Atlas, Map 40, B-4, see Prong Pond on Map 41, C-3, and find Indian Pond on Map 40, C-5.

August ranks as a perfect month to visit the Moosehead region. Comfortable temperatures and willing fish beckon, so come and enjoy.

¶

Moosehead Region guide Eric Holbrook helped this angler catch a trophy smallmouth bass. Eric Holbrook photo www.MaineSportsman.com

58 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Mackerel Time Coves and harbors teem with mackerel, making for great sport and good eating. Anglers up and down the Midcoast region take advantage of the influx of these mostly-underutilized fish species.

The commercial fishing industry does little with Atlantic mackerel, so their numbers haven’t plummeted, as they have with our groundfish species. And because of this, there are no size or bag limits on mackerel. But mackerel make a sporty prize and at day’s end, a cooler full of fresh, ice-cold mackerel holds promise for many great meals to come.

Even better, mackerel remain available to shore-based anglers.

Sure, boaters have an advantage because they can chase schools of fish, but fishing from shore in known mackerel hotspots can yield incredible results.

As for cooking mackerel, recipes abound.

During a recent chance meeting with a Maine Sportsman reader in Greenville, of all places, I was asked to offer my mackerel-canning recipe, which, along with a recipe for hot-smoked mackerel, I’ll post here. But first, it’s on to the ins and outs of mackerel fishing.

Mackerel Trolling My favorite method of mackerel fishing consists of trolling with the same gear I use for salmon trolling just after ice-out.

This includes a 9-foot, 6-weight fly rod and a sinking fly line. Add a selection of single-hook, brightly colored streamers and bucktails, and

www.MaineSportsman.com

When lure-fishing for mackerel, Swedish Pimple jigs work splendidly. However, they are quite pricey. For a more economical approach, try Diamond-style jigs, which come several to a package. The fish don’t seem to mind that you opted for the lower-cost alternative.

Youngsters love trolling for mackerel. Tom Seymour photo

the way is paved for fastpaced action.

Tandem streamers work as well, but with two hooks, unhooking a fish becomes more difficult. Also, it may be necessary to add one or two b.b.-size split shot a foot or so above the fly to keep it under the surface in choppy water.

For best results, try to hit the water during a moving tide, either incoming or outgoing.

During the down time be-

tween tides, action comes mostly in fits and starts, with schools of mackerel prowling here and there.

But during a flowing tide, fish are on the move and all heading in one direction. This is when we can expect nonstop action.

So begin trolling with a colorful streamer such as Red-And-White, Joe’s Smelt, Edson Tiger Light, Wood Special or any fly that will grab mackerel’s attention. Hold the fly rod in hand or set it

in a rodholder. Either way, when a mackerel strikes, it will feel similar to when a landlocked salmon smashes a fly.

The rod will immediately start bucking and if the mackerel measures a foot or more, it will make fast, powerful runs, just like a salmon.

If fishing alone, try to resist the temptation to set out two rods, since when you hit a school of mackerel, one rod will demand your full attention

and two rods can only cause confusion. Few people go for mackerel in this manner, but those who try it quickly become steadfast devotees of fly-rodding for mackerel.

Spinning Gear While not suitable for trolling because of line twist, spinning gear shines when fishing from shore. The secret here is to match the size of rod, reel and line to the size of the fish.

I use a lightweight spinning rod and reel and 4-pound test line. With this outfit, even a small mackerel fights well. The thin line allows for long casts – something that often saves the day when fish hang just out of reach from heavier gear.

Mackerel will take almost any lure, but jigs work best. Swedish Pimple jigs perform splendidly, but these are quite expensive.

As a more economical alternative, try Diamond-style jigs. These come several to a package – a much better buy.

And mackerel happily hit these. A small snap swivel helps when changing lures, but isn’t absolutely necessary. I usually just tie my jig directly to the spinning line, since jigs don’t cause line twist.

With everything set to go, just cast out, allow the jig to settle halfway to bottom and reel in. Add extra action by pumping the rod during the retrieve.

If other lures bring only slow action, try switching to Crappie Magnets. These take almost any fish, both fresh(Continued on page 60)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 59

Fresh and Saltwater Opportunities Await Downeast Anglers Anglers can enjoy outstanding fishing by choosing a multitude of fresh or salt-water opportunities in Hancock or Washington County.

Hefty togue, fresh-water bass or mackerel fishing in the Downeast Area can be explosive this month.

Refer to DeLorme’s, The Maine Atlas, Maps 14, 15, 23, 24 and 27.

Hopkins Pond (Map 24, B-1) is a popular togue-fishing water. This well-oxygenated, 442acre water contains an ideal habitat for cold-water gamefish. The best lake-trout fishing is during the months of June, July and August.

Drift fishing with live bait, according to a very reliable local expert, takes fish early in the season. Anglers trolling large copper-colored spoons or flies attached to dodgers also take fish.

Late-summer togue seekers need to troll deep – 35-50 feet is a good bet.

Trollers using lures, especially Mooselook Wobblers, often experience good luck.

Most of the togue are small, with only a few

Toddy Pond in Orland is made up of three waters separated by sets of narrows. It offers prime salmon, brown trout and togue fishing. Fortunately for me, it’s also the location of my camp. measuring over the 20inch length limit. Fish weighing up to up to 5 pounds, according to noted authority Mike Cummings, are occasionally caught by anglers. A u gust anglers who still-fish with smelts (caught from the pond) catch a few of these bottom-dwelling trout in deep water at the southern end of the pond.

Dawn fishing usually provides the best time to take a lake trout.

Folks gain access to Hopkins from Route 9 near the Mariaville-Clifton town line. Follow the Debec Pond Road for approximately two miles.

The boat landing is on

the east shore.

My Togue Pond The fish swam for bottom several times before it swam close enough to the water’s surface for me to realize that I had hooked a keeper. After several more runs, I slid the 26-inch lake trout into my waiting net.

Carefully, I released the 8-pound laker back into the water.

No sooner had I finished setting up my second rod, when my Fenwick rod began to quiver.

Then the drag kicked in and the line started racing off the spool. Once the reel stopped releasing

line, I carefully set the hook and felt the unmistakable tension of another togue.

I caught and released several more togue that August morning and realized that I had found a togue-filled honey hole.

Where, you might ask can an angler catch lake trout in the dog-days of August?

My answer is aided by the fact that I have a summer residence on Toddy Pond in Orland (Map, 23, E-4). I have been catching late-summer lakers here for over 45 years, first years ago with my Dad, who showed me where to fish on the pond, how to

hand-line native smelts for bait, and how to set up my rod to fish near bottom. My present-day fishing techniques are still very much the same, except I now have a few more pieces of technical fish-finding equipment to help me locate the fish.

Togue Haven Toddy Pond, a prime salmon, brown trout and togue water, is made up of three waters separated by a set of narrows. Each pond consists of a uniquely different fresh-water habitat.

First Toddy, the deepest of the three ponds, has a maximum depth of 122 feet, and contains most of the game fish caught by anglers. Brown trout, salmon and togue are commonly part of a day’s (Continued on next page)

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60 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Downeast Region (Continued from page 59)

catch. The southeast shoreline, locally known as Whiskey Springs, is a good spot to troll for lake trout this month.

Lucky for me, the best togue fishing, the deepest water and my cottage just happen to be found on this piece of water.

Second and Third Toddy have traditionally been a warm-water fishery; however, a recent stocking of 1,000 splake may persuade game fish seekers to spend more time fishing here.

Second Toddy has a maximum depth of 22 feet, and is approximately two miles in length.

Several ledges on the east shoreline form deep water pockets that offer good habitat for trout during the hot summer months. This area also offers good white perch and smallmouth bass angling during the summer.

Mackerel Mania Mackerel-seekers from Eastport to Bucksport will be casting lines from area bridges, docks, and ledges, or trolling the

bay for these hard-hitting fish.

Downeast anglers troll for mackerel by using trolling rods or fly rods. Bucktail flies, streamers and small jigs catch most of the mackerel for August anglers.

Saltwater fishing gets exhilarating during the month of August in the Downeast Region. Anglers all along the seaside encounter schools of mackerel.

Years of Mackerel Fishing The 9- to 10-inch mackerel were coming along the ledges and striking everything in sight. My rod curved as one, two, three, four and finally five silver mackerel hit my Christmas tree jig and almost hauled the rod out of my hand. However, I brought the silver-sided fish to the dock and unhooked them one by one.

My older brother, a biology teacher at Lubec High School, took a cast, and the ravenously-hungry mackerel hit his plas-

Midcoast Report (Continued from page 58)

water and saltwater. And sometimes mackerel will take these to the exclusion of other artificial lures.

Mackerel Bait Every so often mackerel will refuse all lures, and we must resort to bait. For this, the same tackle is called for, except that instead of a jig, we’ll use a single size 6 hook at the end of the line. I like to begin with no added weight, since this allows the tide to wash the bait around in a perfectly natural manner – attractive to all fish.

Choice of bait varies. I know someone who uses clam necks. These, being tough as leather, stay on the hook a long time. Also, thin strips from a mackerel’s belly work well. But you have to first catch a mackerel before you can use it for bait.

That leads us to the best all-round bait for mackerel and that is shrimp, either fresh or previously frozen.

Make sure to use only a small bit of bait. Cast it out and let the current take it.

When a mackerel bites, it will hit hard, so www.MaineSportsman.com

tic-coated hooks one after another until he had a stringer of five fighting trophies on the end of his rod. This feeding frenzy continued for approximately five minutes.

After we had casted for a half hour with no luck, the mackerel came back up to the ledges, and the explosive fishing situation began all over again. We finished the day at West Quoddy Head Light (Map 27, B-4) with a healthy catch of nice-sized mackerel.

Presently, I fish at Dice’s Head in Castine, and often catch good numbers of mackerel by using spinning gear to cast a Christmas tree jig. Other anglers are successful by using a # 6 hook baited with clams, mussels or marine worms.

Another good mackerel-fishing possibility is the coastline near Moose Point State (Map 14, A-5).

It has high concentrations of mackerel during the summer. Moose Point State Park offers anglers a chance to hook a good mess of mackerel.

Most Downeast anglers troll for mackerel by using trolling rods or

The three basins of Toddy Pond -- imaginatively named “South Part,” “Central Part” and “Northern Part” -- offer great fishing for lake trout, splake, white perch and smallmouth bass.

fly rods. Bucktail flies, streamers and small jigs catch most of the mackerel for August anglers.

Shoreline fishers often

catch good numbers of fish by using spinning gear.

¶

be ready to strike at any second. And if the bait doesn’t sink well, add just one b.b. split shot or else use a small snap swivel for added weight.

Sometimes a small bobber 2 - 3 feet above the bait makes all the difference. This allows the bait to float, suspended, right where mackerel are bound to see it.

Mackerel Cookery Here’s my recipe for pressure-canning mackerel. With 40 or more mackerel all cleaned, cut into pieces a little shorter than a half-pint jar is tall. Pack into jars, skin side out. Add no water. Pressure cook at 10 pounds pressure for 100 minutes.

For smoking using a Cameron’s Stovetop Smoker, first marinate mackerel fillets in a brine made of 1-gallon water, 1-1/3 cup canning salt, 2/3-cup brown sugar, 1-3 teaspoons garlic powder, 1-3 teaspoons onion powder, 1-3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce.

Let sit 10-12 hours. Smoke for 8-10 minutes, and serve.

Enjoy!

¶

Fishing from breakwaters produces lots of mackerel. Here, wildlife photographer and frequent Maine Sportsman contributor Dave Small catches a mackerel from Rockland Breakwater. Tom Seymour photo

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 61

Halibut in Alaska; Largemouth Bass in Maine For many sportsmen here in Central Maine and around New England, the dream of fishing the crystal-clear waters of Alaska is high on their bucket list.

For me, this dream came true last summer, when I was able to join my Dad and brother on a “once in a lifetime” trip to the last frontier.

I can’t begin to describe what an amazing time was had by all.

In fact, the limits of my skills as a writer wouldn’t do it justice anyway.

Instead, let me share the details of one simple decadent meal that we enjoyed in the small town of Homer, AK. A Meal to Remember

Throughout my life, I have eaten a lot of fresh fish; however, I have never experienced anything quite like the taste of caught-fresh-that-day, never-frozen halibut.

Picture an enormous, heaping plate of halibut, deep fried to golden perfection. Every bite is crispy, salty goodness filled with delicious, meltin-your-mouth halibut.

Add to the exquisite gourmet experience an ice-cold Alaskan IPA and a restaurant window with a view of mountain-rimmed Kachemak Bay and – well, you get the picture.

If that was all to this story, I could simply slip into a gastronomic coma and be perfectly satisfied; however, there is more.

Imagine, if you will, convincing one of the waitresses to provide you with the Alaskan family’s top-secret batter recipe!

Imagine having the fresh fish meal of your life in an Alaskan restaurant. Now imagine convincing one of the waitresses to provide you with the Alaskan family’s topsecret batter recipe!

In this column, Steve shares an Alaskan family’s secret recipe for fresh fish, lightly-battered and fried.

Alaskan Family’s Top-Secret Batter Recipe Ingredients: • 2 lbs. fish (We were fortunate enough to return home with over 50 pounds of halibut, but any “white” fish is perfect with this recipe including haddock, northern pike, small- and largemouth bass, striped bass, white perch and black crappie – we’ve tried them all and found each to be delicious.)

• 12 ounces light beer • ½ teaspoon baking soda • ½ teaspoon baking powder • ½ teaspoon salt • 1½ cups flour • 4 tablespoons cornstarch Instructions: After mixing the ingredients and coating the fish, place the fish pieces gently into deep fat fryer, being careful not to crowd the fish. Cook until the batter turns golden brown – about 3 minutes at 375 degrees.

Last year, the author (at right) was joined by his brother Matt and his father Steve in a once-in-a-lifetime Alaskan halibut fishing adventure.

Fish can be removed from the fryer and laid onto a paper towel-lined plate and put into the oven at 200 degrees to keep warm, while the remainder of the fish is cooking.

And Now for the Tartar Sauce!

Anyone who grew up with the Schwan’s truck delivering frozen fish sticks to your front door, is sure to have choked them down with a heaping smear of Mom’s “homemade” tartar sauce. Typically this less-than-culinary concoction was made by combining equal parts relish and mayonnaise.

Instead of relying on this old diehard recipe – and trust me: it should die – why not try this blissful tartar sauce recipe?

Blissful Tartar Sauce • 1 cup mayonnaise • 1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickle • 3 tablespoons chopped green onion • 1 tablespoon drained

capers • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard • 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend.

Season with salt and pepper. Cover; chill at least 1 hour. Lasts up to two days if kept cold.

Late Season Bass Tactics If you’re looking for a great local “white fish” to enjoy using the above recipe, largemouth bass is one of my favorites, even as August slips into September.

For many anglers, bass fishing season ends soon after Labor Day. Committed bass fishermen know, however, that some of the best bass fishing occurs as the leaves change color and the

shorter days of sunlight begin to cool water temperatures.

Next month, September, marks the beginning of the fall turnover, a time of year when the cooling upper layer of water becomes heavier than the water underneath.

This causes the denser cold water to sink, pushing the warmer water to the surface.

During this change, a majority of the lake’s bass population will be drawn into the shallows to feed. In the fall, bass cover large amounts of territory in search of food as they fatten up for the long winter season.

During the first part of fall turnover, top water lures like shallow water crank baits (such as OSP Blitz Max in Red Claw, and Begley Honey B in Baby Bass or Red Crawdad) are effective.

Hungry bass patrolling the shallows, really hammer these lures, which mimic creatures of the shallows like crayfish, minnows and frogs.

After the fall turnover, around the time aquatic plants begin to die, bass transition into deeper water. At this time, anglers should make the switch to deep-diving crank baits. Fished correctly, deep diving crank baits can break the 20-foot barrier, meaning anglers can successfully pursue big bass in deep water.

Many fall anglers fish Carolina rigs or Football jigs.

According to Bass Master Pro Paul Elias, some lures catch more fish, while other lures catch bigger fish. He be(Continued on page 63) www.MaineSportsman.com

62 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Gardner Defoe’s Legacy Runs Deep In May, I attended a celebration for the life of Gardner Defoe at Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley.

Gardner was named a Legendary Maine Guide in 2012 when the Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife presented him with the Wiggie Robinson Award. More recently, in 2016, L.L. Bean created a documentary film about Gardner, titled Defoe’s Way. But the public awards and accolades took a back seat to personal memories at the Sugarloaf gathering over Memorial Day weekend. More than a hundred friends and family members filled the

Imagine taking 30 inexperienced kids at a time for extended canoe camping trips into the Maine wilderness, teaching them how to paddle, pole, make fires and cook. Now multiply that by almost 40 years, and you begin to understand the massive body of work Gardner Defoe left behind. main lodge, many of them from far away.

Gardner purchased Birch Island Sporting Camps on Holeb Pond (DeLorme Map 39, B-2) back when the easiest way to get there was by rail. He told me he first explored the area after arriving at a Canadian Pacific siding platform on the south shore of Holeb.

In 1960, he started what later became known as Wilderness Water-

ways, and used Birch Island as his home base for teenage summer wilderness programs.

Imagine taking 30 inexperienced kids at a time for extended canoe camping trips into the deepest pockets of remaining Maine wilderness – the Moose River, the Allagash and the St. John. Think about the challenge of teaching those kids the rudiments of canoeing, poling, fire

making, cooking and how to be a human being in the woods. Now multiply that by almost 40 years, and we start to get a sense of the massive body of work Gardner left behind.

Many of those former campers attended the ceremony in May. Others were graduates of his winter ski camp programs that he ran at Sugarloaf. Still others of us were the beneficiaries

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of his advice, knowledge and generosity only in our adult lives.

Always the teacher and generous friend, Gardner will be missed.

Maine Canoe Symposium Seeks New Venue Since 1984, the Maine Canoe Symposium has been meeting annually at Winona Camps on Moose Pond in Bridgton.

Maine has been closely associated with both the manufacture and historic use of the open canoe for over 200 years. The symposium is a celebration of that tradition.

The concept was started and originally (Continued on next page)

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Gardner Defoe made a positive impact on hundreds of people, young and old.

(Continued from page 62)

sponsored by L.L. Bean 34 years ago, but 9 years later it became a labor of love for a crew of volunteers.

Winona Boy’s Camp has always been the steady silent partner that helped keep the tradition going. The camp’s milelong waterfront, with multiple beach and dock venues, hosted on-water canoe poling clinics, paddling classes for solo and tandem boats, paddle stroke-specific classes, stand-up paddling, canoe sailing, and rescue techniques.

Meanwhile the camp’s on-land venues provide perfect spots for talks, classes and demonstrations on everything connected with canoes and canoe camping.

But in June, the steering committee announced that the long friendly relationship with Winona was ending due to financial concerns. The over-

Participants in the Maine Canoe Symposium receive instruction on many skills, including stand-up paddling, and poling. Organizers of the symposium are on the hunt for a new site that’s capable of hosting the event.

whelming task of finding a new location puts the ongoing existence of the symposium itself at risk.

If you have lived or vacationed in Maine for any length of time there has almost certainly been a canoe in your life. It might have been a battered aluminum fishing canoe that your grandparents kept at their camp. Or maybe it was a summer-camp encounter with a sun-faded polyethylene veteran of many years on the waterfront.

If you were very lucky — you got to experience a classic wood & canvas model somewhere along the way. The Maine Canoe Symposium has been the caretaker of that heritage.

Here’s hoping that the tradition continues.

Early Fall Fishing is On the Way Speaking of tradition, the first few cool nights this month will generate thoughts of remote pond

Central Maine (Continued from page 61)

lieves the biggest bass often prefer a crankbaits over rigs and jigs, noting that while fishing in deep water, he would consistently catch 2-pound fish on a Carolina rig, but nothing larger.

However, after switching to a Mann’s E-Z 30+, he reports getting fewer bites, but began consistently

fishing for native trout.

Of course, the best fishing is in those ponds that are most difficult to access. Often that access is blocked by big, industrial-sized, stay-the-hell-out gates that prevent motor-vehicle access to some of the best fishing.

Very frequently, the owners of these roadways are happy to welcome bicycle riders and foot traffic – it’s the motors they object to.

I’ve been experimenting this summer with a way to access these waters by bike – but also bringing along a solo canoe for better fishing. The answer is using a canoe cart and inventing an attachment to the bike for towing.

After salvaging a spring-loaded coupling from a trailer designed as a tow-behind baby trailer, I have my system dialed in. The baby trailer itself was salvaged from the “Trash and Treasures”

In order to access lands and trout ponds closed to motorized vehicles, the author has fabricated a canoe-carrier to tow behind his mountain bike. Jim Andrews photo

building at the local town dump.

My earliest idea was to convert the baby trailer to a canoe trailer. But the traditional canoe cart made more sense for the wheel attachment – and the flexible coupling from the baby trailer was the most valuable part. It allows the bike to negotiate rough, hilly terrain without upsetting the towed canoe.

I’ll be using the new rig to access remote ponds in Attean Township, near the Moose Riv-

er, west of Jackman – see Delorme, Map 39, B-3.

The comprehensive plan for this area was created by Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission back in 1989. It allowed logging in the township, but prohibited motorized recreational traffic from a vast area surrounding a bunch of remote trout ponds.

A local guide named Gardner Defoe was an advisor to the commission.

Thanks again, Gardner.

¶

larger fish.

This data is exciting, as it really confirms something my grandfather always said: “If the fish ain’t biting, or you ain’t catching the fish you want, try something different.”

So don’t be afraid to switch it up and try something new late this summer and into fall – you may just be surprised by the results.

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64 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The Lead Debate Goes On Readers are still reacting to last month’s discussion of lead projectiles (see this issue’s “Letters” section for an example); meanwhile, the issue and the controversies move forward.

California’s law banning lead as an ammunition component “for any sporting purpose” took effect on July 1st. Retailers and distributors up and down the Golden State are probably scrambling to reallocate stocks to more amenable marketplaces.

Will Other States Follow California?

Can other like-minded states be far behind

in making a similar commitment? What about Maryland or New York?

Surely Massachusetts could follow California’s direction away from lead ammo.

Would Illinois, with Chicago’s well-known anti-gun sentiment and organized politics, decide to outlaw lead ammunition? No doubt voices across the line in Canada also call for an end to lead.

In nearby New Hampshire, public sentiment recently caused the state legislature to interfere with the Fish & Game Department’s scientifically-planned bobcat hunt. In similar

TROPHY DEER, BEAR & MOOSE HUNTS

fashion, the governor intervened to “pardon” a nuisance bear the game biologists had marked for culling. Would they not embrace a notion to ban lead ammunition?

Pine Tree State And what of Maine?

Despite our long-standing sporting traditions, Maine is as susceptible as any other state to this sort of dynamic change.

A ban on lead bullets could arrive in Maine through rules imposed by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, or by action of the Legislature. More likely it would come through a citizens’ petition that forces some future November referendum question.

Since Maine is one of a handful of states that permits citizens to add questions to the ballot, this state’s sportsmen know only too well challenges to sporting traditions. It is no leap of faith to

assume that the same population demographics that brought challenges to bear hunting and trapping would embrace further prohibitions in the use of lead for bullets and shot.

Seeking Alternates As discussed last month, the problems with concentrations of lead are easy to recognize.

Wherever a large number of projectiles fall in a small area, contamination results. Few would argue that large amounts of lead in a small area poses substantial hazards, which is why ranges and sporting clubs often retrieve and recycle lead deposited in their downrange areas.

General hunting seems another matter.

Hunters fire few rounds over wide territories.

A spent bullet here or there hardly seems to add to what lead occurs naturally in the environment, and the slugs generally come to

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rest where the risk of contact with humans or even other animals is low.

However, anti-lead advocates now claim that hunters themselves are at risk of poisoning.

They claim that hunters ingest fragments of lead bullets deposited in game, or become sick from contamination transferred when a bullet passes through a wound channel. How many hunters eat from the wound channel may become a point of debate.

Some anti-lead websites state that lead bullets contain as many as 24 toxic substances.

If substantiated, that number should at least make fans of lead bullets take notice. The question really turns on the likelihood of anyone coming into contact with whatever toxins may be associated with the cartridges in their pocket.

The material of choice since the 16th century, lead is not as prevalent as it once was. Modern ballisticians use other ingredients besides lead to fabricate contemporary projectiles. Except for shotgun shells, pure lead turns up only among blackpowder shooters, fans of casting their own bullets, shotgun slugs and a dwindling number of .22 rimfire brands.

Alternatives Found The most common substitute for lead in bullet designs is copper.

First used as plating or jacketing over a lead core, solid copper bullets arrived on the scene in the 1980s.

According to Fin and Field, “Copper bullets were found to have better (Continued on page 66)

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DIF&W: Sebago Anglers Need to Kill More Togue We set the downriggers to run about four feet above the bottom in 50 feet of water. The trolling motor read the lake chart and with the help of GPS, kept us at the 50-foot contour line on Sebago Lake (DeLorme Atlas, Map 5, C-1).

I was fishing with Marine Corps veteran Ryan O’Banyel at a recent “Trolling for Troops” event, helping get our proud veterans on the water. We were dragging frozen smelt three feet behind Lake Clear Wabbler dodgers, which gave the smelt a life-like to-and-fro swimming motion, along with serving as an attractant.

It didn’t take long before we were into small lake trout. The other boat captains were reporting catches of several lake trout, and with 30 boats on the water, it was evident the bottom of the big lake was crawling with togue.

Before our morning was over, we netted 5 lakers, including a few nice ones. I kept a small one for my smoker, and Ryan took the others home to eat. He had a great time and we made plans to fish the event again.

The following day, my usual fishing partner, Rene Lavoie of Lewiston, joined me for the Lake Trout Shootout derby. We boated seven legal fish, lost a few at the boat and had to release one nice 27-inch slot fish.

Derby participants reported equally impressive catches, with my friend Jim Fickett of Honey Badger Guide Service boating more than 20 lakers. A whopper sixteen-pounder took the top

DIF&W Regional Fisheries Biologist Jim Pellerin recently reconvened a salmon fishing focus group first formed in 2011, and he had disappointing news – salmon catch rates are way down, the landlocked alewife population is down and the smelt population is declining. In other words, there are not enough forage fish to feed both salmon and lake trout. prize, proof that there are some decent togue to be had. More than 120 registrants did their best to pull togue from Sebago Lake.

Unfortunately, many believe the rise of togue numbers is accompanied by a decline in the salmon catch rate, and most of the guides and anglers I was fishing with agree with that sentiment.

Salmon Aficionado Peter Dunn of Raymond, a long-time Sebago lake salmon angler spends more time on the lake than most of us. To say he is a salmon aficionado would be an understatement. Plain and simple, he loves to fish for salmon and knows how to do it.

Alarmed by the decline in Sebago’s most popular fish, he eagerly joined a focus group started in 2011 by the folks at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W) to examine the salmon angling success rates.

DIF&W Regional Fisheries Biologist Jim Pellerin noted a decline in salmon catch rates starting in 2013, but his staff members were alarmed enough about the future of salmon angling on Sebago Lake to convene the focus group in 2011.

Now he is back at the table with many of the original group, with disappointing news. According to Pellerin, salmon

catch rates are way down, the landlocked alewife population is down and the smelt population is declining. In other words, there are not enough forage fish to feed the salmon and lake trout.

With lake surveys conducted every other year, Pellerin told me that they have found that the salmon catch rates are down 42 percent be-

tween 2013 and 2017, the last year of the survey.

Beginning of the Decline Pellerin told me that the salmon started to decline after 2013, citing that as the last, best year for salmon catch rates. In fact, Pellerin stated that 2013 was the best year for salmon anglers in the past 50 years.

www.richardsonsby.com

:,0 Ye s

a

I recall the landlocks that spring; big and fat like footballs. This year I took only one salmon while fishing after iceout, and it was a long, thin “racer” of a fish.

Areas guides and anglers report catches of only one fish, and also indicate they are long, thin and racy-looking. Not good. And Pellerin expects a bigger, continued decline.

I asked him what we as anglers could do, and he said, “It’s simple – keep and kill all the legal fish you catch.”

Now as a catch-andrelease angler, I rare(Continued on next page)

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66 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sebago to Auburn (Continued from page 65)

ly keep fish, unless I want to eat one or make smoked trout or salmon.

I like putting them back for others to enjoy.

Pellerin and his biol-

Shooter’s Bench (Continued from page 64)

penetration and less material loss. Modern studies prove that copper bullets have higher velocity, expand well at low and high speed, penetrate extremely well, and lose virtually no mass.” Perhaps there comes an upside to the lead controversies.

In addition to solid copper alternatives, makers now offer an alloy called “gilding metal” made of 95 percent copper and five percent zinc. Copper examples include the Barnes Triple-Shock, Nosler e-Tip and Hornady GMX. Many of these modern bullets include polymer and other plastic tips that aid in expansion and lethality. Perhaps polymer residues scattered in forest and field will become the controversy of the future.

Shooters considering changing to nonlead bullets, or those forced to make the switch, need to know the differences. Nonlead bullets are usually longer than lead bullets of the same weight. Longer bullets perform differently, depending on the rate of twist in the rifle barrel. Experts tell us to choose a lighter weight non-lead bullet to get the same results as the lead bullet.

ogists plan to spend more time on the big lake educating anglers like myself that we need to kill all the togue we catch if we want to bring the salmon

back. In fact, he reported that DIF&W will be piloting a freezer program where anglers can bring their unwanted togue so they can be given to wild-

life rehabilitation centers as food for recuperating critters – a novel idea.

Additionally, Pellerin hopes that local angling (Continued on next page)

Switching to a non-lead alternative may require re-sighting a rifle. Non-lead ammo often will shoot to a different point of impact when compared to a lead bullet. Practice long and well before expecting to take game.

Changing Market Federal, Hornady, Winchester, Remington and others now offer non-lead ammunition all over the country—not just California. The late Frank C. Barnes wrote, “The most important factor influencing the ammunition available at any given time is economics.” Barnes was right.

Ammunition makers surge ahead with new, modern non-lead designs because the market dictates more than regulatory mandates. Embrace these advances because they make hunting better, not just because of concerns about lead poisoning or moralistic arguments.

If they perform better in terms of accuracy and lethality, are safer for the environment and for someone who attends our game dinners, then so be it. The argument is carried on merit.

The Best Answer? Make Non-Lead the Best Ammo Right now a rising tide appears to want

If lead bullets and shot are outlawed, successful old ammunition will disappear from stores and gun cabinets everywhere. JC Allard photo

to deposit dictums on our doorsteps. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Producing non-lead alternatives to perform better than lead is truly the answer. Hunters and shooters will choose the products that suit them best. Lead ammunition will then fade away, as did leading at the muzzle and the gunflint.

In order to meet the oncoming tide, we all need to learn as much as possible about the negative effects of lead and the positive impacts of emerging non-lead bullets. Only then can we make informed decisions.

THE LAKES REGION

¶

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 67

How to Pick the Right Duck Boat I have been looking to buy an inexpensive duck hunting boat. Here are some of the factors that will go into my final decision.

First of all, I’ve got to figure out what types of water I’ll be hunting – bogs, lakes or the ocean.

Is a Steady Canoe OK for Bogs and Swamps?

Let’s start with bogs.

Most bogs are smaller than lakes, and the waves don’t have the space to get really big.

In addition, you probably won’t have to use an outboard motor because you don’t have to travel as far in a bog as you do on a lake.

For these reasons, you might be able to get by with a large, steady canoe – one big enough to hold you, your gear, your hunting dog and your hunting partner.

But you want to make sure it’s not going to tip easily. I hear plenty of stories of people flipping their canoe while duck hunting and losing all their gear.

So if you’re not comfortable with canoes, then don’t choose one as a duck boat, because late in the season when the water gets cold, it could get dangerous in a hurry.

Salt Water = Bigger Boat But some people don’t duck hunt in bogs at all – they prefer sea duck hunting.

Hunting salt water is a lot of fun, but it’s not a good idea to go after sea ducks in a small boat unless you really know what you’re doing.

To be on the safe side, the smallest boat I would want to be sea duck hunting in would be a 16-foot deep-V hull boat.

Check the Weather Even with a 16-foot boat you’ve got to be really careful, since if you end up in the ocean in December or January, things could get really bad.

Wherever you plan to hunt – on bogs, on lakes or in the ocean, but especially the ocean – make sure you check the weather before you go out. I’ve been sea duck hunting in harsh conditions, and it’s no fun.

Lakes The reality is, most of my hunting won’t be in bogs or on salt water; rather, it will be on lakes.

For that use, I want a boat that isn’t a canoe (which could be okay if the lake is calm, but you can’t always count on that).

It needs to be a boat

Sebago to Auburn (Continued from page 66)

groups will support the Department by assisting with smelt egg transfers into the lake. They still need to find a good source, but his hope is that they can bring up the smelt population by transplanting eggs into the lake.

Finally, Pellerin anticipated new legislation will be in effect that drops the existing slot limit for a “one-over” system. Recently, anglers were allowed to keep all togue un-

that’s not larger than 14 feet, but not smaller than 12 feet, since anything smaller than 12 feet won’t fit two hunters and all their gear safely.

Regarding hull shape, the choices are a flat-bottom, or a deep-V. I’m going to look first for a flat bottom Jon boat.

Although flat-bottom boats pound hard on the waves (a deep-V cuts through the waves better), once you get to your hunting area, a flat bottom is the best choice, because you can get into shallow places to set up for duck hunting.

So while deep-V hulls provide a smoother ride, it’s more difficult to get them into the backwaters and thick stuff where the ducks like to be.

In addition, a big boat is harder to hide.

Our Current Ride The boat me and my buddy currently hunt out of is a 12-foot boat we spray-painted camo.

It’s powered by an electric trolling motor.

(If you haven’t already guessed – yes, a limited budget was definitely a factor in our current selection).

And that set-up gets us out there hunting.

Trolling motors are not very fast, but they defi-

Even though our Young Maine Sportsman is still pretty young, this photo following a successful goose hunt shows that Luke’s been at it for many years.

nitely get the job done.

And if you hit a rock, it’s no big deal. We hit tons of rocks and stumps, and constantly get the propeller tangled in weeds.

And you don’t have to worry about running out of gas.

Limits of Electric Motors On the other hand, when the battery powering your trolling motor starts to die, it’s really aggravating.

Also, you have to get up extra early to get to your spot, and anyone who knows me knows I’m not a morning person, so a gas motor is going to be preferable.

So eventually I will get a gas outboard. However, it won’t need to be a huge motor.

In fact, a 5-horse out-

board would be perfect – less weight on the stern of the boat means more capacity for decoys, and I always love having lots of decoys.

Besides, I don’t want to be going very fast in the dark when the water is 45 degrees anyway.

So if someone wants to give me a motor, I don’t even care what color it is – it could be bright pink, because I’m going to paint over it anyway.

I plan to buy lots of spray paint, because I’m going to use two coats, and they want to be heavy coats, at that.

And you don’t need to go overboard on the camo pattern. Last year, for example, we cut out a marsh grass pattern in a piece of cardboard, and it looks awesome.

¶

der 23 inches and one over 33. This season, the slot was raised to 26 inches. Pellerin believes the new regulation will be unlimited togue under 26-inches and one over 26 inches. Dunn and his cohorts were hoping for a complete elimination of slot limits and allow unlimited harvest of any size lakers.

It remains to be seen what will be enacted, but the new limit should be in place when this column runs.

¶

The author shows off a 27-inch slot limit togue that he had to release under current regulations. Photo by Tom Roth www.MaineSportsman.com

68 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Vernon S. Walker WMA Offers Year-round Recreation My granddaughter’s track and field meet was cancelled because of rain – I had the day off. Despite the pouring rain, I decided to do some R&R, grabbed a fly rod and my old Bear recurve, tossed them in my truck and headed north to the Vern S. Walker Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

The area is special to me. Vern Walker was a Game Warden and my neighbor here in Shapleigh, and he took me under his wing, I remember boat rides with him while he checked fishermen on Mousam Lake. He let me drive the boat – a big deal for a 10 year old.

There’s one section of the WMA that’s like a “man cave” for me. It starts as a trail that meanders along the side of a mountain then dips down into an old mature forest covered with oaks and maple. The forest slowly follows downhill, and then ends at a large low-land marshy, boggy swamp.

You couldn’t create better habitat for deer, bear and turkey than this spot. In years when the oaks are dropping acorns, the area is alive with wildlife activity.

Deer like to hang out in the thick, alder-choked swamp, feeding in the hardwoods at dawn and dusk.

This place will calm a troubled mind. Sometimes a guy needs to spend time alone – this place is my therapy couch. That day, the sun peeked through the black rain clouds, creating perfect photo light. I clicked some photos, shot arrows tipped with blunts www.MaineSportsman.com

There are few places better for “recharging your batteries” than publicly-owned Wildlife Management Areas such as the one named after Game Warden Vern Walker, who was a friend of the author.

The author spent a recent rainy day in the woods, and practiced bowhunting. He reports that such an experience can help recharge a person, both physically and mentally.

into dead, moss-covered stumps, and scouted for natural blind locations along deer trails – spots where I plan to sit in ambush come archery season.

Later, I stopped on the Mann Road and fished the Little Ossipee River for a while. As I cast into the pool at the bridge, a lady stopped. She was looking for her lost dog named Jackson. She was clearly upset, bordering on out-of-control. I spent the rest of the day driving along roads in the area calling for her dog, with no luck. Knowing dogs, I expect Jackson was later reunited with his owner.

Later, my rest and relaxation day was complete. I was wet, cold and refreshed, ready to be-

come a husband, father and provider again – and I was prepared to take on those challenges with a renewed and positive perspective.

Walk-in Trout Pond Vern Walker WMA provides other opportunities for outdoor folks.

Spicer Pond, in the heart of the WMA, is a walkin trout pond with the following restrictions – closed to fishing from Oct. 1 to March 31; closed to ice fishing; artificial lures only (ALO); two brook trout limit; and motorboats are prohibited. Other than these restrictions, general fishing laws apply.

Access to this pristine pond is from Route 11 or a hiking trail on the Mann Road both in

Shapleigh. The best way to fish this pond is with a float tube and fly rod, and general fly patterns work well. Dead drifting a nymph pattern or caddis fly has worked for me.

Midge patterns and light leaders are a good bet, as well.

Brook trout aren’t picky feeders and so this is a spot to learn the art of fly fishing. There’s room to cast from the dirt road that runs along the shore, and the fish will rise to about any fly that hits the water. Don’t overlook the outlet brook that is part of Davis Brook – the pool downstream holds trout.

Brook Fishing Davis Brook runs through the WMA and has brookies in the beaver ponds and deep pools.

Davis drains swamps in the Owls Nest located on the Owls Nest Road in Shapleigh, and dumps into the Little Ossipee River.

Davis Brook is often overlooked, but it may be one of the most productive brook trout streams in the area.

And best of all, you own it – the majority of it is located on WMA public lands. Anglers at Davis must follow general fishing rules, except from the section from Mann Road downstream to the confluence with the Little Ossipee River. That section is open to fishing from April 1 to October 31, ALO, and all trout must be released alive at once.

Much of the brook is alder-choked with deep slow currents but it also has many areas with fast water ruffles and runs.

There are sections with deep undercut banks – always good spots to fish.

The brook is a joy to fish.

Day Hikes But the Vern Walker WMA isn’t just about trout – it offers good hiking trails. One is a trail to Knox Mountain, Newfield. The trailhead and parking area is located on Route 11 in Newfield. The trail is about one mile to the top of the mountain.

The trail rises steadily, and ends on a flat rock top with a 360-degree view of the surrounding hills. It’s about a 30-minute hike to the top.

For a side trail that few people know of that leads to a remote section of the Little Ossipee, follow the field on the north side of the trail to the cor(Continued on page 70)

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 69

In August, Fish Ponds in the Early Morning and Early Evening I fish rivers, streams, brooks, lakes and ponds with equal enthusiasm.

Over the past several years, I have really increased my pond fishing for brook trout – and in doing so, I have formulated a theory.

My theory – not anything new – is that fishing early and late in the day produces more hookups.

This underwhelming conclusion comes after spending an overwhelming number of sun-up to sun-down days on ponds in the Rangeley Region.

Or, to paraphrase my friends, “You just don’t know when to quit!”

This theory of fishing

mountainous, spring-fed ponds around the Rangeley Region gets divided into spring, summer and fall fishing times, and likely applies to ponds in other locations around the state.

However, ponds in this area sit at higher elevations than most of the rest of the state except for the Jackman Region.

Cold snow comes early here and leaves late – I believe this makes a difference.

Pond Fishing Theory This is how the average day on a pond goes for me during the spring season (May and early June):

1. Get up there at the crack of dawn and find the fishing is super-slow and nothing is hatching yet, but continue to fish until lunch because I have a sandwich in the cooler and might as well keep trying.

2. After lunch, continue fishing and realize that it is three o’clock and I just caught my first fish of the day. A huge hatch begins and it’s gangbusters for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

3. Fish until dark and only quit because the batteries are out on my headlamp.

4. Hike back out to the truck by moonlight, hoping I don’t run into a

mother bear with cubs or worse, a mother moose with a young one.

Fishing this same pond in the middle of the summer (late June, July and August) is very dif-

Rangeley Lakes Region

ferent. I must get on the water very early while it is still cool and the sun is low in the sky. Fish seem to hit my fly at random areas of the pond in the (Continued on next page)

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Rangeley Region (Continued from page 69)

morning, but they favor the cooler springs or feeder brooks entering the pond as the heat of the midday sun glares overhead.

Hatches happen throughout the day, but the afternoon doesn’t fish any better than the rest of the day. Often, on real hot days, the fishing gets slower as the day goes on – morning fishing rules, and things don’t pick up again until near dark.

Fall fishing produces the best fishing in my book – the brookies feed voraciously throughout the day. The scenic backdrop of colorful trees can only be matched by the striking colors of a breeding brook trout. Fishing life is good in the fall.

Dodge Pond Situated just north of Rangeley Lake, Dodge Pond (Delorme Atlas, Map 28, E-4) gets fed at the north end by Round Pond and pours out of the south end into Hunter Cove on Rangeley Lake.

The pond boasts excellent water quality and remains a good coldwater

fishery, despite having most of its shoreline developed.

Good spawning and nursery habitat, located at the main inlet, keeps the pond supplied with native brook trout and landlocked salmon. The pond gets stocked annually with brook trout to supplement the wild population.

Anglers access Dodge Pond from Route 4/16 near the south end of the pond. The 214-acre pond is closed to fishing in the winter months but it’s available for open-water fishing under the general rules the rest of the season, with a few special regulations (C1, S4 and S17). Check the Department of Inland Fishing and Regulation law book for specific rules that apply to any body of water you intend to fish.

Frigid Flowage Anglers access the Kennebago River at the bridge where Lincoln Pond Road changes to Tim Pond Road (Map 28, C-3), or downstream, anywhere along the Sports-

man Road (also known as Boy Scout Road) where it dumps into Cupsuptic Lake (Map 28, D-3 and E-3).

Many of the best places to fish, marked by worn-down access paths from the road to the river, can be easily fished with a good pair of waders.

In the heat of summer, some folks forgo the waders, choosing to stay cool by donning only a pair of swimming trunks and wading boots.

Anglers looking for another cool stretch of river to fish during the hot month of August couldn’t find a better place than the Cupsuptic River. Its waters always seem cooler that most others, even in the sweltering heat of late summer.

The river starts at a remote pond near the Canadian border (Map 28, B-2), and works its way through rocky ledges and fertile forests until it pours into Cupsuptic Lake at the north end of Mooselookmeguntic Lake (Map 28, D-2). Access can be had a short distance from the network of logging roads that stretch across this region.

Whether fishing from

An abundant supply of water fills the Rangeley Region with plenty of fishing territory. William Clunie photo

A native brookie is so full of life and energy that it’s an awesome feeling to hold it in your hand for a second or two before releasing it safely back into the cold water.

William Clunie photo

shore or entering the cool current of either of these watersheds, anglers can be sure of one thing – summertime salmonids

Wildlife Quiz Answers: Chain Pickerel 1. Pickerel prefer to eat fish but will also eat frogs, crayfish and mice.

2. Pickerel are native to Maine.

3. Pickerel range far into the Midwest and southern United States.

4. An average adult pickerel is 14 to 19

Southern Maine (Continued from page 68)

ner, and look for a faint trail that leads to the river. Or for the more adventurous, follow the brook under the footbridge on the trail to the river – and bring your fishing pole.

By the way, this section is still in the special regulations on Davis Brook and Little Ossipee mentioned above – these laws apply to the section from the stone dam upstream of Route 11 in North Shapleigh to Bridge Street in Newfield.

Our public lands consist of sea-shore www.MaineSportsman.com

hunt their prey in the depths of the numerous pools that line these rivers.

¶

(Quiz on Page 31)

inches long, and weighs 2 to 3 pounds.

necting lines resembling the links of a chain.

5. The largest pickerel caught in Maine weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

7. Pickerel possess a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that can inflict bad wounds on unsuspecting anglers.

6. Pickerel can be identified by their scaled gill covers and green bodies marked by yellow-green areas broken by dark, intercon-

8. In the wild, pickerel live approximately 7 – 9 years.

marsh-lands, sand plain environments, and large virgin forest lands. These public tracts are laced with rivers, streams and ponds with game fish. They also contain hiking trails. Most important, hunting, trapping and fishing are allowed.

To locate your own place to recharge, fish and hunt, consider southern Maine’s WMAs. They are not just for Mainers – you can use them even if you’re “from away.”

Just be certain to review ever-changing laws and regulations before hunting, trapping or fishing.

¶

The author finds public lands to be a great hunting and fishing resource, even on a rainy day.

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 71

Fishing Through the Heat of Summer As I slipped the canoe into the remote Western Maine Mountains (WMM) pond early that morning I thought, “I’ve got all morning to fish before getting back home at two in the afternoon like I told my wife. I should be able to catch plenty of fish in the allotted time.”

I fished hard (wait – fishing isn’t hard!) all morning long and only caught a few brook trout that I released back into the pond. After eating lunch, I returned to fishing, and slowly worked my way back to the launch to give me time to get back home at 2 p.m.

Right before I thought about heading in, I noticed a real nice rise directly in front of the launch. I paddled over and figured I’d catch one last fish before getting off the water and driving home.

(Ah, those famous last words: “One last fish.”)

As the big brookie took a swipe at the grasshopper tied on my tippet, it launched itself out of the water and dove back down at the imitation of a bug. I didn’t get a good look at the size of the fish, but watched as my rod bent more than I’d ever noticed before. Brook trout in this pond rarely get over 15 inches, but this beast was really putting a stress on my fiveweight L.L. Bean, “Double L” rod.

When I got the fish to the net, I found that the colorful brook trout was foul hooked and able to tug on the line with the full force of the complete girth of his broad body, making it seem larger than his 14-inch length.

Once my heart settled

Just after lunch, as I was about to head home, I thought I’d try for one last fish. Well, I hooked one, and as I was fighting that fish, I heard several other rises, so I continued to fish until that evening. I texted my wife and told her that I couldn’t stop now and – well, you know how the story goes from here.

The stark beauty of the glassy surface of Webb Lake is surrounded by the grandeur of the Tumbledown/Jackson Mountain Range. William Clunie photo

down, I let the fish back into the water and returned to fishing.

As I was fighting that fish, I heard several other rises, so I feverishly continued to fish until that evening. I found a place to text my wife and told her the fish were just starting to bite and that I couldn’t stop now and – well, you know how the story goes from here.

Webb Lake Salmonid fishing in the region slows down during the hot weather, but it doesn’t mean anglers have to put the rod away until next year.

The spacious 2,146acre Webb Lake (Delo-

rme Atlas, Map 19, C-2) fills this warm-weather niche quite well, offering anglers warm-water species in the shallows and spring-fed holes for cold-loving salmonid.

A long and narrow channel runs from the south end of the lake to the north shore, right down the center of the lake – a trough carved out by glaciers many centuries ago. Most of the length of the channel contains a series of cooling springs at about 40 feet of depth.

Landlocked salmon, brook trout, brown trout and rainbow smelt swirl around this channel in an endless game of pred-

ator and prey, with most of the best fishing at the north end of the lake.

Webb Lake’s shoreline, rocky and shallow, holds several warm-water species – chain pickerel, smallmouth bass, sunfish, and both white and yellow perch. Casting into the shallows, full of huge boulders and underwater weed beds, can keep an angler busy all day long.

Then, after a long day of fishing, an angler can pull up to the dock at the beach and relax. I like jumping in for a swim to cool off, and then cooking some of the catch on one of the several grills located near the beach.

Just south of the beach, anglers can put in and take out bigger boats at the paved launch. Access this well-maintained launch from the Webb Lake State Park at the southwest end of the lake, off West Side Road.

Warm Water Fishing Worthley Pond (Map 10, A-3) also offers anglers a similar opportunity to fish for cold- or warm-water species on 354 acres of clear blue water surrounded by horizon of mountains.

Great shallow-water fishing for smallmouth bass and pickerel can be found along the shoreline around the south end of the big pond. The big rocks and deeper shoreline at the north end of the pond also provides fast-action angling.

Several species of trout keep angler’s lines tight in the deeper waters near the center of the pond. The pond doesn’t get much deeper than forty feet, but gives up some hefty rainbows, browns, and brookies every year.

A healthy population of smelt keeps the voracious fish well fed.

Worthley Pond’s boat launch, located on the East Shore Road, allows anglers with trailered boats access. This launch remains quite shallow, so boaters with a deeper draft beware.

During an ice-fishing excursion years ago on Worthley Pond, a local angler had me observe the screen of his fish finder. I watched in amazement as the electronic fish finder recorded several schools of thousands (Continued on next page) www.MaineSportsman.com

72 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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Western Maine Mountains (Continued from page 71)

of smelt swirling around below the ice – enough to keep a lake full of hungry fish fat and happy.

Bear Bonanza Bear hunters looking for baiting site locations in the WMM have plenty of possibilities in this region. Look for swampy areas near the base of any of the mountains in this region for a quality stand placement.

Closely inspect topographical maps of the area for these features that offer bear a refuge from the sizzling heat of a hot summer. Find pockets of dense swampland at the base of mountainous terrain, and then go about setting bait out

regularly during this month, in anticipation of the long-awaited season opener.

The swampy areas surrounding the ridges of Tumbledown Mountain (Map 19, B-1 and C-1) give up huge boars every year, as well as similar wetlands around Mount Blue (Map 19, C-3). The rocky terrains of these mountains provide bear with winter dens, and the heavy forests offer cooling shade. Swampland at the base of these mountains keeps a bear cool and hydrated. The lush forests provide hungry bear with plenty of food for the upcoming fall and winter.

Lowlands around the

town of Carthage (Map 19, D-2) give thick-coated bear deep and dark cooling hideouts, too. The surrounding hills have been recently logged, opening up the forests to sunlit patches of berry growth.

Mast producing trees, left to grow by these logging operations, grow fuller and produce an increased mast for heavily-feeding bear.

Follow the logging roads that lace the WMM, and look for any of the myriad brook crossings.

Bear hunters who hike up the brooks find ideal places for setting up bait sites. Make sure to ask landowners for permission – most landowners welcome bear hunters if asked first.

¶

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In the Year 2049 “Let’s give this a try.”

Ava offered Eloise a green Woolly Bugger. “I don’t think they’re taking anything off the surface yet. The hatch may not start for an hour or two,” she said.

Eloise clipped off her mayfly pattern and carefully tied on the bugger.

She still felt awkward tying on flies, as this was only her second season fly fishing. Ava, a Registered Maine Guide, had taught her the previous spring when they first became friends.

“Maybe you can convince a wild brook trout to eat that, before the allyou-can eat buffet starts this afternoon,” Ava laughed.

After two days of floating the Kennebec, catching brown trout on the section near The Forks, Ava and Eloise had decided to drive up to Cold Stream to try for the rare native brook trout that still found refuge in the shady pools. Springs in the headwaters provided cooler water, and a remnant population still had a foothold.

Too Warm The main stem of the Kennebec and much of the lower part of Cold Stream – now “cold” only in relative terms – no longer could support brook trout. The water was too warm. Ava’s dad told her that he used to fish the upper Kennebec with his father and catch brook trout and landlocked salmon all day long.

The last salmon was caught in the Kennebec in 2029, when Ava was nine years old. Now the upper Kennebec held only brown trout and bass.

Soon, state biologists were saying, the entire

Thirty years from now, what will the fishing be like?

What will Maine be like? The author provides his version of a glimpse into the near-future.

The author hopes future generations get to enjoy the beauty of wild brook trout in Maine’s rivers and streams. Photo credit: Christi Holmes

Kennebec might be only a bass and pike fishery.

Light E-rail Ava and Eloise had taken the light e-rail train from Portland to Bingham for a long fishing weekend. On the ride up, they met two gray-haired gentlemen from Pennsylvania who were also going to float the Kennebec to fish for browns.

“We remember when the upper Delaware River was the place to go for big brown trout. They’re all gone now,” the older guy, Ed, explained. “Now we have ride 10 hours north to find any trout water at all. Really glad this train can bring us up here.”

Bingham, Solon, Caratunk and The Forks had blossomed as destination towns, now that passenger rail had returned. No-

In the future, will climate change mean that Cold Stream (shown here) will be “cold” in name only? David Van Wie photo

body from southern New England would drive this far north anymore.

When the electric rail was completed in 2030, the upper Kennebec towns marketed themselves as sustainable recreational communities.

Visitors appreciated that the entire valley was now powered by solar, wind and local hydropower, and that all the food was locally-grown and organic. Fishing throughout the region was catch-andrelease.

A cluster of small, super-efficient hotels and rooming houses had sprung up to meet the demand for people who wanted to escape the oppressive heat in Boston and New York. Snowmobiling was a distant memory, so the towns had to rebuild their economies. People arriving on

the e-rail could rent allwheel-drive electric vehicles to take them onto the trails and into the hills.

Too Little, Too Late Eloise’s mom taught Environmental Studies at the University of New England. She explained to her daughter that climate change had steamrolled across the globe faster than scientists had predicted.

The political response was too little, too late, and the impact on the economy became alarming. Federal and state governments, businesses and local governments had to invest trillions in re-tooling the entire economy to adapt to the new reality.

Fortunately, starting in the early 2030s, advances in technology allowed carbon dioxide

to be removed from the atmosphere on a massive scale. But it was expensive–paid for with taxes on carbon and internal combustion engines – and scientists projected that it would still take 50 years to get CO2 concentration back down below 400 parts per million, which was still 30% more than pre-industrial levels.

Protected Habitat Ava and Eloise were thrilled to be up in the cool headwaters of Cold Stream, which had been “protected’ decades earlier by Trout Unlimited and the State of Maine.

The land and stream habitat were off-limits to development, but nothing could protect it from a changing climate.

Massive storms regularly caused erosion, scouring portions of the stream channel, but with so much forest land acting as a buffer, the impacts were partly mitigated.

Volunteers worked every year to repair the stream channel so holding pools and woody debris provided enough habitat for the brookies that made this a mecca for anglers who had never seen a wild native trout.

Wood ferns beneath the thick forest canopy filled the air with scent.

A rare hemlock – those that had survived the woolly adelgid infestation – provided shade, as did balsams and white pines.

Forest composition was changing across New England, but there were still many evergreens in the highlands.

Deep Beauty Eloise flipped the Woolly Bugger into a (Continued on page 75) www.MaineSportsman.com

74 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

A Step Over the Border and Back in Time

In a matter of a short 50 years, the Parmachenee area saw its accessibility change drastically. What was accessible in the mid 1800s only by rugged bushwhacks and harsh several-mile-long canoe carries, soon saw established portage trails, steamboats, buckboard roads and automobiles.

A common theme in my columns has been adventuring into and exploring the faraway and remote reaches of woods and water in Northern New England. I must have inherited this instinct.

My great-grandfather established a camp around 1940 “way back” in the Phillips Brook Valley. Then, in the mid 1950s, he built anoth-

I’ve seen the remnants of the private hatchery, walked the creaking boardwalk of Camp Caribou and walked along the overgrown traces of horse-team trails. So I feel a kinship with the well-dressed sportsmen featured in the old black-and-white photographs. er camp on Trio Ponds, a high-elevation remote trout pond deep in what is now the Nash Stream State Forest.

Not to be outdone, my grandfather coordinated with Brown Compa-

ny in the early 1970s to lease a lot on the historic Parmachenee Lake, just across the Maine border, and twenty miles behind a gated dirt road.

The objective here, you see, is to go farther,

fish longer, and hunt harder. Just truly enjoy the fruits of God’s Country.

Treasure Trove of Photos A recent trip to our

camp at Parmachenee led to the uncovering of a box of old photos. Of course, there were many photos of fish and deer and a few moose that my grandfather had taken in the early days of the camp—but beyond those were some that were distinctly older – as in, 1800s older.

These photos depict a different generation of sportsmen. Though (Continued on next page)

The initial guides and “sports” hunting out of John Danforth’s Camp Caribou on Treat’s Island on Parmachenee Lake saw the area’s hunting and fishing in its prime. www.MaineSportsman.com

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 75

Two hunters check on the spring high up on the ridge on the east side of Parmachenee Lake, which fed both the Farm on the eastern shore and Camp Caribou on Treat’s Island.

(Continued from page 74)

their clothes were fancier (many in suit jackets and ties), and their guns longer and heavier, I am tied to them in their yearning to be in the wild and rugged backwoods.

The photos showed a time, way of life, forest, and game population that are all now long gone.

I couldn’t help but notice some juxtaposition in the photos. Though the land was much more remote and access harrowing, the people were thriving. In fact, there seemed to be more goings-on then than there are now!

Long-Gone Farm, Hatchery I found pictures of scattered hunting outpost cabins, logging camps, lunch shelters, storage sheds, stables and more—none of which still exist. There was once a fully operational farm, and even a private fish

Camp Caribou and Parmachenee Club guides treated “sports” to riverside meals cooked over the fire, usually of their fresh catches.

hatchery constructed on the east side of the lake.

You can scarcely find evidence of this now.

Maps and stories depict well-established trails and horse-team roads that have since been consumed by nature. The famous Camp Caribou of The Parmachenee Club, built by John S. Danforth, had twice as many cabins and amenities a century ago as it does today—and it was built on a sparsely wooded island!

Young Moose Hunters – Published 1882 Early exploits of the Parmachenee area are chronicled in some thrilling books and published diaries. The earliest dated one (that I know of) is The Young Moose Hunters by C.A. Stevens.

The book was published in 1882, but recounts tales of the writer’s experiences in Parmachenee in the mid 1860s.

Sporting Environment (Continued from page 73)

deep pool where a ledge outcrop created an eddy in the current. Ava told her to wait for the fly to sink before giving it a twitch or two with a slow retrieve.

“They’re probably holding down between those rocks,” Ava offered quietly. “See if you can get the fly to drift down over that deep slot.”

It is a fascinating tale of two relatively woods-inexperienced Bowdoin College students who decide that they will pay their tuition using trapping proceeds. Of all places, they decide on a whim to delve far up the Magalloway River to the mystically rumored area of Parmachenee Lake.

Without giving too much away, the story follows their triumphs of hunting a previously unseen bull moose, to their tribulations of being robbed and left for dead by French-Canadian fur-trapping bandits.

Hunting and Trapping in the Mid-1800s In another 1882 publication, John S. Danforth (famed proprietor of Camp Caribou on Parmachenee Lake) and F.C. Barker (a guide for Danforth and subsequent famed proprietor of the Rangeley Lakes), recount their experiences in the wild area, aptly titled

Danforth established quite a few outpost hunting, fishing, and trapping cabins in the Parmachenee area. This log cabin was constructed at Upper Black Pond circa 1880s. (Starbird photo; all other photos from collection of Jim Emerson)

Hunting and Trapping on the Upper Magalloway and Parmachenee Lake.

This book compiles some unbelievably crazy and exciting yarns.

(Most old woods-authors have a flare for dramatic embellishment.) Again, without giving too much away, readers will relive impossibly long shots on migrating caribou, flaming lynx attacks, and a pet owl named Jared (it’s a shame what happened to poor Jared ….).

These tales will leave you yearning for more— which you can find in the published diaries and writings of Daniel Heywood and Charles Farrar, guides for Danforth’s Camp Caribou.

Readers will Feel a Kinship Throughout these writings, those familiar with the area will recognize many structures and landmarks described.

Those with a progressive imagination can plot

Eloise mended the line just like Ava had taught her. The fly sank again and drifted toward the dark recess under an overhanging branch.

She saw the trout flash at the same moment she felt the rod bend and shake. “Hold the line tight but don’t rush it,” Ava coached.

Eloise played the fish toward the edge of the stream, where Ava netted it, keeping it wet.

This was Eloise’s first brook trout, about nine inches. She grinned when she saw the tiny spots, red points within circles of pale

their way to the described riverbank campsite. They can smell the orange-bellied brook trout frying over the smoking and sizzling spruce boughs.

They can see the frosty caribou slugging through the deep snow drifts on the iced-over Rump Pond, their breath steaming the air with each exhausted snort. They can hear through the thick black night air the eerie shrieks and howls of the bear, or perhaps, the elusive and ferocious mountain cat.

I’ve seen the stone and plank remnants of the hatchery. I’ve walked the creaking boardwalk and stood under the rotted stilts of Camp Caribou. I’ve trudged the overtaken traces of horseteam trails. I’ve crawled into the crumbling stone structure high in the saddle of a ridge and peered out its portholes—where countless caribou were shot on their migration (Continued on next page)

blue and the white margin on the fins. She marveled at the mottled green and yellow markings down the back.

This brookie, wet and glistening in the sunlight, was far more spectacular than any picture she had seen. She let it go, watching it dart back to the cool depths.

“Let’s hope the next generation gets to enjoy these beauties,” Ava mused.

“Yes, let’s hope,” Eloise replied.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

76 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

with most of my blood relatives.

New Hampshire (Continued from page 75)

trail. I’ve fished the same faraway trout pools, hunted the same remote ridgetops, and probably eaten lunch on the same rock outcroppings as those who first explored

and established the area as the iconic outdoorsman’s paradise.

I feel more kinship with these well-dressed souls I’ve only met in black and white than I do

More to Follow Even for those who do not have a personal tie to Parmachenee Lake or the larger Rangeley region, the story of the area—and its iconic characters—has something to offer everyone. Whether

you are a history buff intrigued by the fabled log drives and lumberjacks, an avid fly-fisherman who uses the famed Parmachenee Belle streamer, or a cook looking for a new way to prepare venison or trout, let your thirst be quenched by the pure waters of the Upper

Magalloway.

Stayed tuned for next month’s article, for a more complete history of how John Danforth, Camp Caribou, and The Parmachenee Club came to be.

¶

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 77

— Guest Column —

Boaters’ Brains are Built Differently

by David Putnam Ever wonder why so many boats live in yards on trailers? Probably it’s because the buying part of the owner’s brain – imagining the joy of a new boat zipping along – lost out to the witness section of his brain, that watched his wife fall hard on her tailbone on the slimy boat ramp.

The witness part of his brain also made a permanent recording of the savage summer rainstorm on the open lake … his panicked children … running the boat aground on the way back to the ramp … and paying the tow boat.

As a new boat owner, the rational part of the owner’s brain may have considered free Coast Guard Auxiliary safe operation and coastal navigation classes, but the fun-loving, macho part of his brain overruled the idea: “Hell no, not me.”

Now his wife won’t even push the lawn mower near the boat, and the kids always have other things to do.

Bahamian Dreaming Instead of Planning Truth is, my brain also has a vicarious section that loves to dream about fishing trips. I do my research months ahead, when it’s snowing outside. Unfortunately, my vicarious brain part doesn’t do details very well.

Case in point: I once arrived with pals at an Abaco Island bonefish lodge to discover that the “native Bahama guides” was really just one guide, an enormous young man from the bright lights of Nassau who didn’t know a bonefish from a sand perch.

His ancient 20-foot skiff could get us to a shallow flat to wade, but

The author admits to being a better dreamer than planner, as demonstrated in his dubious choice of a certain Abaco Island fishing lodge, which – despite the feature-filled glossy brochure – offered a single inexperienced guide, and many cockroaches.

The author opines that boaters’ brains -- expecially the brains of male boaters -- are constructed differently than the brains of normal people. Art by Edwige Massart and Xavier Wynn; Posted by ThisIsColossal.com

poling was impossible.

Fishing “muds” was the guide’s idea of bone fishing, which he did with hand lines. (Muds are clouds of mud stirred up by schools of fish rooting like pigs in the seabed.)

It’s the least sporting way to catch a bonefish. We were waaay too snooty for that. We waded and didn’t catch many fish, but – as the saying goes – at least they were small.

Not Hungry Any More The lodge’s dining

room with spectacular water views closed right after dinner, so we returned to our rooms to drink and tell lies.

Why was the dining room closed?

That night I awoke to a scurrying sound, flipped on the light and saw at the foot of my bed hundreds of cockroaches covering boxes of mangoes I’d brought as gifts.

The next morning I couldn’t look at the breakfast buffet. I suspect the roaches live in the refrig-

erator to keep cool.

Changes in an Angler’s Brain My vicarious brain section was so eager to go bone fishing I’d bought every lie in the outfitter’s ad. Should I have insisted on references, on talking to recent visitors to the lodge? Why, exactly, did I go to that specific lodge?

To catch the fish of a lifetime? Enjoy the food, the seasonal warmth? To be with friends? Common sense went fishing.

Trust me here – your brain is waiting to surprise you, and this goes for anglers as well as boaters.

As it gets older and more wrinkled, the brain section that learned outdoors skills begins to weaken. The brain part in charge of tying fishing knots will shrivel up.

That same brain part is now responsible for your not leaving enough of the leader’s tag end to tie a knot properly. Your cheap-o brain segment wants to save line by inches.

Your going-fishing brain part is responsible for not putting the plug in the boat and leaving your new rain jacket at home. It easily overcomes the brain part regulating caution.

I’m not sure what brain section is responsible when your new beer cooler (more expensive than your laptop and lawn mower combined), placed in the boat ever-so carefully, bounces out on the highway. Who’s responsible for that? Blame it on the dung happens part of the brain.

Brain is also a Haven Fortunately, the imaginary memory part of my brain stores the catches of three beautiful brook trout on three casts one summer evening— long, perfect casts.

Stripers are in a different brain fold, but easily accessible, right in there with salmon on my hand-tied flies.

Argentine sea-run rainbows? I can see them from my armchair.

Makes me want to go out in the yard and check on the boat.

My memory is a wild thing. Isn’t yours?

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

78 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

— Guest Column —

Hunters’ Breakfast

by Randy Randall When we lived in Brunswick, we attended church at First Parish, and I belonged to the men’s club. This group of older gentlemen met once a month for breakfast and fellowship and sometimes to hear a guest speaker.

A quick inventory of the members would discover every type of pacemaker; artificial hip, stents, hearing aids knee braces and multiple heart bypasses modern medicine had invented. Walking canes were a common fashion accessory as were suspenders. They were a slow-moving bunch that stopped for a breather as they climbed the stairs of Pilgrim House.

We took turns preparing the meal. Considering the health histories of the group, breakfasts usually consisted of a lot of Eggbeaters, oat bran muffins and decaf coffee.

My Turn to Cook – in November My turn to cook came in November, just after I’d spent a week at deer camp. The rascal in me determined I would treat

That morning, I prepared the feast of a lifetime for my men’s group at the church – home fries, beans eggs, Canadian bacon, dunker-style donuts and apple pie.

Looking back on it, I guess I should have asked what the after-breakfast guest speaker was going to talk about. my fellow club members to a real hunters’ breakfast.

To do this, I convinced my wife to bake a pot of beans and two apple pies.

Then I sketched a woodland cabin on a large piece of cardboard that showed smoke curling from the chimney, and the soft yellow glow of propane lights seen through the windows.

I took my rifle – unloaded, of course – and an ax and dressed in my boots, woolen pants, two flannel shirts and my blaze orange hat. The effect would certainly be unique if not rustic.

The Feast I arrived at the church kitchen about six a.m. and began prepping.

I fired up the large commercial grill and cooked a mess of home fries with onions. The aroma was mouthwatering.

I scrambled mounds of real eggs using whole milk and farm butter, and turned dozens of made-from-scratch flapjacks. I had pounds of hearty Canadian bacon fried to a crisp, dunker type donuts, and a couple of gallons of stout camp coffee.

As the fellows began to arrive, I heard them remarking about the delicious smells emanating from the kitchen. I had already set up my cardboard cabin and hunting equipment to help set the mood for the morning repast.

When it was time, I threw up the serving window and laid out the beans-bacon-eggs-home fries-apple pies – donuts, maple syrup and hot coffee.

A Quick, Sincere Grace The men lined up in

anticipation. The pastor called for quiet and gave a quick and sincere grace.

Then the line moved, and I dished out my cholesterol-busting hunters’ breakfast.

I took quiet pride in the wide eyes of some of my old friends as they discovered the somewhat-taboo smorgasbord spread before them. “Gee Randy, you’d make someone a good wife,” from one old guy. “Hey, only in Maine do we eat pie for breakfast,” said another “Is there mincemeat?”

“Who baked the beans?”

The old fellows had a grand time happily breaking every dietary restriction they were supposedly following. I roamed amongst the tables with my coffee pot refilling cups. “Any more of those beans, Randy?”

“Is the pie all gone?”

One perceptive octo-

genarian asked in a loud whisper whether maybe it wouldn’t be necessary today to tell their wives what they had eaten at the men’s breakfast?

There was a general mumble and agreement all around.

Bravo! Bravo!

When the dishes were scraped clean, the minister stood and suggested maybe the camp cook deserved a round of applause. First time that had ever happened. I took my bow and disappeared into the kitchen.

The cook was also responsible for clean up, and I had a lot of dirty pans, but it was all in good fellowship and fun.

About then the pastor introduced the guest speaker for the morning, a young cardiac doctor from Mid Coast Hospital who had arrived near the end of the meal and was going to give a talk about heart health.

It was then I decided to quietly lower the serving window, and close the kitchen door.

¶

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���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 79

Smilin’

Sportsman Hot Older Couple on a Fence An elderly couple was enjoying an anniversary dinner together in a small tavern.

The husband leaned over and asked his wife, “Do you remember the first time I kissed you, over fifty years ago? We went behind this tavern. You leaned against the fence, and I gave you a big smack on the lips.”

“Yes,” she replied, “I remember it well.”

“OK,” he said, “How about taking a stroll ’round there again and we can give you a big smooch, for old time’s sake?”

“Henry, you devil, that sounds like a good idea,” she answered.

They walked haltingly along, leaning on each other for support, aided by canes. Finally they reached the back of the tavern and made

Send your best hunting & fishing stories, and your favorite jokes, to the editor at will@mainesportsman.com!

their way to the fence. They embraced, and leaned against the fence.

Suddenly they erupted into the most energetic hugging and kissing imaginable. For 10 long minutes they embraced and smooched, all the while jumping around like 18-year olds.

After the kiss ended, they both collapsed, exhausted, onto the grass.

The wife smiled sweetly at her husband and said, “Henry, that was even more exciting than it was 50 year ago!”

“There’s a reason for that,” explained the husband. “Fifty years ago, that fence wasn’t an electric fence.”

•••••••••••••••••••

Honest Truth Quote of the month: “The thing about getting quotes from the Internet is that it’s very difficult to verify their authenticity.”

– Abraham Lincoln

The Smilin' Sportsman Youth Edition Kids! Send your best hunting & fishing stories, and your favorite jokes, to the editor at will@mainesportsman.com.

Unsteady Hand “Doctor,” said the patient, “you’ve got to help me – I just can’t stop my hands from shaking!”

“Do you drink a lot of caffeinated soda?” asked the physician.

“Not really,” replied the patient. “I spill most of it!”

••••••••••••••••••• Up Your IQ Kid #1: “Hey, what are these things lying on the grass?”

Kid #2: “They are ‘smart pills’! Try one.”

Kid #1: “Yuck! These taste like rabbit droppings!”

Kid #2: “See, the pills are working – you’re getting smarter already!”

••••••••••••••••••• Sticky Wicket A carpenter was repairing the interior of an outhouse when he lost his balance and fell in the hole.

He began shouting, “Fire! Fire! Fire!” at the top of his lungs.

The local fire department responded quickly, with speeding trucks and loud sirens.

The first responders on the scene looked down the hole and asked, “Where’s the fire?”

“There no fire,” replied the carpenter, as they helped him out of the hole. “But tell me –

would you guys have been so fast to come and rescue me if I had just started yelling ‘Poop!’

‘Poop!’ ‘Poop!’?”

¶

The true inside story behind this cartoon - Cartoonist Robert Summers: “Hey, Mr. Editor -- it must be fun being able to get outdoors and hunt and fish all the time.”

Editor: “Actually, Robert, we editors don’t get outside as much as we’d like to -- we are too busy assembling each issue, coaching our writers and editing their work.”

Cartoonist Robert Summers: “You know, I think there’s a cartoon in that story! You are stuck in our office, while the rest of us are running wild!” www.MaineSportsman.com

80 • August 2019 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

— TRADING POST — • Subscribers may place one free 20-word line classified ad per month (two-month limit) • Items for sale must include a price • Real estate ads must include an address or location

• The regular rates are $15 for up to 20 words and 50¢ for each additional word • Check, money order, MasterCard or VISA (Credit or Debit) are accepted

• You may submit your ads by: Phone: 207-357-2702 E-mail: classifieds@mainesportsman.com Mail: 183 State Street, Suite 101 Augusta ME 04330

SUBMIT AD AND PAYMENT BY THE 30TH OF EACH MONTH AND YOUR AD WILL APPEAR IN THE NEXT ISSUE. CAMPS FOR RENT EAST GRAND LAKE DANFORTH, ME 24x32 Camp- Greenland Cove, Sleeps 6-10. Deck, small dock/beach. Hunting, Fishing, Boating, ATV, $600/wk. 207-8311447

PARKMAN, ME BUCKS CROSSING WMD 17 RENTAL CABINS Turkey, deer, moose, upland game. All amenities included. Great ratesnightly, weekly, monthly. $75/night for two people.

207-277-3183 ———————————

CAMPS FOR SALE HUNTING CAMP, 10.3 ACRES, ZONE 17 GARLAND, ME 1-1/2 stories, sleeps 5, gas lights, wood stove, fridge & stove, shower. Good deer hunting, 1 hour from Moosehead Lake, $39,000 Call: 802-274-1377

HUNTING CAMPS WITH 30 ACRES Gated Right-A-Way. Great bear, deer hunting. $45,900. B.O. (207) 4266192 Hartland, Me. NORTH MAINE WOODS T13R10 Great Moose hunting Zone 2, also bird, bear, deer. Furnished, camp

sleeps 6, shower, propane fixtures, finished in cedar, P&C lease, $42,000.

207-944-0873 ———————————

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY LOCATION! LOCATION! (Continued on next page)

GROW YOUR BUSINESS with an ad in The Maine Sportsman!

—

3,911 ACRES

Dallas Plt - Timber, water, wildlife and views. Four miles of frontage on S. Branch of Dead River and four remote ponds. 1,700’ of elevation. Interior roads. Close to Rangeley. $2,750,000

192+/- ACRES

175+/- ACRES

Guilford - 192± acres w/ views from Oak Hill (920’ in elevation) & in the shadows of 1,326’ Guilford Mt. overlooking First Davis Pond. Wildlife galore with evidence of moose & deer. Cut in 2011. $129,000

Harrington - 175 +/- acres with 1,650’ of salt meadow frontage on Flat Bay. Numerous coves, sea grasses & changing tides create a unique experience.

Westerly views & mature timber. $175,000

Bancroft Twp - Acreage on Mattawawkeag River. Camp just 200± feet from river w/exceptional frontage. Mature trees, easy access & special protection designated for Salmon & deer habitat. $125,000

Litchfield - Waterfront parcel with tons of diversity. Massive trees in park like setting. Mile plus frontage on Horseshoe pond feeding into Cobbossee stream.

Extensive wildlife. $195,000.

2,900+/- ACRES

Rumford & Mexico - Approx. 2,900 acres including Whitecap Mountain (2,000’), South Twin Mountain (2,156’) and Black Mountain (2,300’). Part of the land is an active Sugarbush. Impressive views. Land can be separated. $1,450,000 Greenwood - 283 ACRES - Views of the surrounding hills south and west from 1,300’ of elevation.

Ledge outcrops, old stone walls and recreation opportunities. Gravel for access and internal roads. $215,000 Greenwood - 251 ACRES - Views of the surrounding hills, lakes and Mt. Washington. 32’x20’ log cabin shell. Good access & road system.

Highest elevation is 1,620’. Recreation paradise. $229,000

Phillips - BROKER OR OWNER MUST ACCOMPANY BUYERS. Approx 1,800’ on Bean Brook which is known to support wild populations of brook trout. Stone walls, trails throughout, good topo and an old historic foundation. Approx. 21 cords per acre. $110,000 New Sharon - 678 +/- acres with abundant wildlife including deer & upland game birds. Diverse land with Bragdon Brook & Salt Marsh Creek running through the lot. Over 900’ of frontage on Weeks Mills Road. $299k or only $441 per acre.

www.MaineSportsman.com

Beauty runs deep.

So does our land sales experience.

John Colannino – Broker & Forester American Forest Management, Inc. 40 Champion Lane | Milford, Maine | 04461 O: 207.817.9079 | C: 207.266.7355 John.Colannino@afmforest.com

For more information on available properties please visit:

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— Sebec Lake Landmark — Canoodlin Point with 1,000 feet of frontage on Sebec Lake and 71 acres of land. This premier spot has spectacular sunsets, privacy and amazing views. There are two comfortable cottages right on the water.

The main cottage has a kitchen, living room, den, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The second cottage has a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Also a screened porch and decks overlook the deep water frontage and large natural outcropping famously known as Canoodlin Point. Additional frontage has potential for two additional waterfront camp lots. This is truly the most picturesque property on 14 mile long Sebec Lake, one of the most pristine lakes in New England. Could be purchased with less land -- call for details.

MLS #1411409. $1,050,000

(207) 564-8073 11 North Street, Dover-Foxcroft, ME

www.mallettrealestate.com

Lot 7 Upper Pinacle Road T28 MD, ME GET AWAY to OFF the Grid!

Privacy, exclusive, retreat.

Serenity, woods, views, beautiful lake frontage on Middle Lead Mountain Pond MLS #1416733 - $149,500.

Donna Coglitore, Realtor (207) 290-0223 donnacoglitore@kw.com

North Maine Woods Camp For Sale Camp in the North Maine Woods T7R12 on Little Indian Pond. Camp is only 5 years old and has solar power and a septic system installed.

Camp is on leased land. $150,000. Call for more info.

(207) 568-3940.

���������������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • August 2019 • 81 (Continued from page 80)

LOCATION! Land & Historical Commercial Building in Western Maine Mountains on busy US Rt 2, on two rivers. Two full floors, stage, balcony, basement, kitchen, bathrooms. Carpeting and hardwood floors.

Restaurant, function venue, entertainment, or...

Must see! $139,000. call/ text 207-357-2702

———————————

LAND FOR SALE WOODVILLE, MAINE 114+/- acres. This lovely gated parcel offers privacy, a nice road system for ease of access to most of the property, hunting, nearby lakes, ATV and snowmobile trails. Has been selectively cut. Ideal location for a camp and has been surveyed and

soil tested - $59,000. FMI please call (207)633-7838 ———————————

MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE TRUCK VAULT, ORVIS DESIGN W- 49 1/2” , L- 63”, D- 9 1/2”. Divided drawers, combination locks, carpeted interior and exterior. Picture emailed on request, $800.00 Call Fred

DEER/MOOSE ANTLERS Buying any size deer & moose shed antlers/ racks or antlered skulls.

All grades bought by the pound. 802-875-3206

HANDMADE 16’ CEDAR STRIP CANOE White Ash Caned seats 12 years old, used little. $1,900.

207-457-1714 Leave name and number.

SKI DOO, ELAN OR TUNDRA Any Condition. Have Cash. Will Travel. Call Or Text 207-522-6940

———————————

Kersey Real Estate

109 Cove Road Cooper, ME Fish! Hunt! Snowmobile!

Swim! This “off-grid” camp on Cathance Lake can be your little slice of heaven!

MLS #1413703 - $124,900.

WANTED

978 430 3167 DEER MOUNT 12 point buck shoulder mount white-tail deer for sale. Excellent condition. $375 obo. Bangor. Tel 207 307-7605

visit www.kerseyre.com to view our complete listing

“No Blarney Spoken Here”

207-585-2411 207-585-2412

506 West Side Road • Weld, ME 04285 •Mike Kersey, Broker WE

LD

CA

NTO

N

WE

LD

Robin Wellman, Realtor (207) 951-4860 robinwellman@kw.com 515 Main Street • Presque Isle, ME Chuck Johnston • (207)764-4600 cbjohnston72@hotmail.com Big city life stressing you out? How about a cozy log cabin in the remote North Maine Woods?

With wild salmon and brook trout in the untamed Aroostook River directly in front of the cabin, you’ll enjoy the abundant wildlife sharing the millions of acres of forestland surrounding your hideaway. Accessible by dirt road. No electricity, but gas lanterns and gas stove keep it warm and bright no matter the weather. Inside bio toilet. This unique property rarely changes hands, but it’s priced to sell at $69,900 plus annual lease. Contact Chuck at (207) 227-2305

BRADFORD: HUNTERS & NATURE ENTHUSIASTS TAKE NOTICE! Property has 35 acre of woods that are full of wildlife including moose, bear and deer! There are also 3 landscaped acres with gardens, apple trees and blueberry bushes.

Enjoy the peace and quiet in this rustic camp on 38 acres! Listing also includes additional 2 room camp with wood stove! $119,900

Becky Prescott (207) 944-3871

beckyprescott@masiello.com

CANTON - A true cabin in the woods. Very nice small log cabin located deep in the woods on a heavily wooded lot with great hunting and other out door WELD - Welcome to the mountains! Enjoy country activities at you door step don’t wait to check this living in this custom built 3 bedroom, 2 bath home one out. MLS #1421558. $59,500 with incredible views. Home boasts a very open concept with cathedral ceiling in the living and ON dining area. The first floor includes an enclosed entry BYR way which has a door to access the large deck and a door that opens to the open kitchen, living, and dining area. The first floor also has a large bedroom with big closet, a full bath and laundry room, and a sun room with access a private hot tub on a large deck.2 bedrooms, a full bath and loft area on the second floor. Basement includes heated vehicle storage and workshop plus two oil tanks. Included in this property is also a 24X26 detached two car Byron - Comfortable log cabin on 7 acres. Located in Bygarage along with a large 26X28 one and a half ron Village with the Swift River in sight, ATV and Snowmobile trails accessible from your dooryard. Come enjoy story barn with a full basement and two garage all the amenities of the Western Mountains like world doors consisting of a large work shop with office and class hiking, gold panning, fishing, hunting, snowshoeing loading dock on the first floor and plenty of storage and more. Or you can just kick back and enjoy the porch space in the second floor. MLS #1370906. $389,500 or take a nap in the hammock. MLS #1417503. $98,500

PERU - 59.3 surveyed acres walking distance to Worthley Pond.This lot offers 231’ of paved town maintained rod frontage plus your own water frontage on Worthley and Thomas Brooks come see why this is great spot for your own private resort and get away. $69,900. MLS #1363508 BETHEL KING LOT - This land boasts exceptional development potential or enjoy the vast land with your friends and family, excellent road infrastrucure and beautiful views of local ski areas. 1356 acres offered at $1,095,000. MLS #1335965 WELD - Looking for a remote spot for your cabin or camper? Here it is! 8 acres with easy access, nice view right in the heart of the Western Mnts, a few miles to Mt. Blue State Park & Webb Lake. $18,500. MLS #1282348 NORTH RUMFORD - Very private 17 acres with great brook frontage and a common area on Meadow Pond located deep in the Western Mountains. $32,000. MLS #1354993 NEAR BETHEL IN ALBANY TOWNSHIP - This 40 acre lot has several hidden building site well off the paved road with beautiful Southeasterly views. Some areas would make great spot for passive solar cabin. The Crooked River meanders on through the lot for great wildlife watching.

Only 7 miles from downtown Bethel. $45,000. MLS #1325975 CARTHAGE - Excellent building lots w/ easy access to ATV and snowmobile trails. All lots surveyed and have driveways into building site.

Ready for your new cabin in the woods? Then come check em’ out. $26,500. MLS #1205057

WEBB LAKE waterfront home with fresh updates located in a quiet cove on a dead end road. Enjoy the breathtaking views of the lake and mountains while watching the moose, loons and bald eagles right from the comfort of your own private beach.

Come enjoy all the western mountains have to offer, including thousands of acres of conservation land and state parks. This area is home to some of the best mountains for hiking in the east including Tumbledown, Big & Little Jackson, Blueberry, Bald, and of course the ever popular Mt. Blue. Year-round activities including snow shoeing, snowmobiling, skating, and skiing at the well known Sugarloaf and Sunday River resorts are easily accessible from this beautiful property you don’t want to miss out on.

MLS #1407157. $327,500

RUMFORD - 347 acres with unique road systems that will lead to pinnacles and peaks with views of the Mountain Valley and Swift River Valley and beyond. This parcel also has frontage on Goff Brook along with frontage on a no name Brook. The recreation opportunities are endless with great hunting, ATVing, snowmobiling, hiking, skiing and all the other great activities available in the Western Mountains of Maine. $225,500.

MLS #1369627 ANDOVER - S. ARM ROAD, 20 acres with INCREDIBLE frontage on Black Brook. This very rare find has deep water pools, great fishing and swimming on those hot summer days. Located on Fire Line 435 off South Arm Rd in the heart of Western Maine. $129,000. MLS #1412098 BYRON - Exceptional 54 acres. This lot has a good gravel road through it, pristine frontage on Thomas Brook and easy access to trails. The property is well wooded with with a mix of soft and hardwood trees that hold some of the best big game hunting in the area. $79,000. MLS #1417048 ANDOVER - This 187 acre parcel has it all! Easy access with a gravel road system. Power is available along part of the road that climbs to great plateaus with grand views. Property is teaming with wildlife and is in the heart of mineral and gem country. $139,000. MLS #1417017 WEBB RIVER WATERFRONT LOTS - 1.6 to 5.9 acres. $39,000-$59,900 PERU - This gentle sloping 73 acre lot is wooded with a nice mix of hard and softwoods, access to snowmobile trails and an abundance of wildlife.

Great recreation lot with several building sites. $59,000. MLS #1417250

Become a Member of The Maine Sportsman

PATCH CLUBS You’ve been successful at the hunt, now wear your pride by entering one of The Maine Sportsman’s exclusive patch clubs!

To find a club and download an application, go to www.mainesportsman.com/patch-clubs to download, print and mail your application with $10 to:The Maine Sportsman, 183 State Street, Suite 101, Augusta, ME 04330 Don’t have a computer or printer? No problem! Give us a call at (207) 622-4242 and we’ll mail you an application. www.MaineSportsman.com

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WATERFRONT COTTAGE ABBOTT, ME

Check out our website www.MaineSportsman.com!

Charming 3 bedroom cottage in Abbott, ME with panoramic views of Piper Pond. Great for boating, fishing, swimming. Cottage includes full bath, second floor ready for finishing for additional living area, and heated 22’x16’ garage.

Situated on oversized lot with 280 ft. frontage and mowed lawn to water’s edge. Snowmobile and ATV from property. Close to Moosehead Lake. MLS#1419157 $289,000 Betty Richardson 207-717-8296 bettyr@midmaine.com

Caryn Dreyfuss, Broker • (207) 233-8275 caryndreyfuss@morton-furbish.com www.realestateinrangeley.com

MAGALLOWAY PLT - Looking for a camp tucked away in the Maine woods on a small pond?

These camps are handed down from generation to generation and don’t come on the market often.

Only one other camp on the pond insures quiet and privacy. Camp is in good shape and is surrounded by excellent fishing and hunting opportunities. Seven Islands lease. MLS #1368777. $39,000 MAGALLOWAY PLT - VERY RARE OFFERING on the MAGALLOWAY RIVER! Camps like this don’t come on the market very often - sweet 2BR fishing/ hunting camp situated on owned land with beautiful frontage along the river. Super fishing spot close to where the Dead Diamond meets the Magalloway and right on the NH State line. If you’ve been looking for a quiet, private getaway, this is a must see. MLS #1423344. $149,900 MAGALLOWAY PLT - Beautifully crafted 3-bedroom log-sided chalet with loft on over 9 acres.

Cook’s kitchen with a “Wolf ” range/oven, cement counter-tops, beverage cooler, pantry, and a woodfired pizza oven. Heat with propane or wood furnace.

On-demand water heater and stand-by generator.

Garage door in the basement for drive-in toy storage.

Deeded access to Pond Brook which allows you to fish or paddle the Magalloway River, Umbagog Lake, or Sturtevant Pond. MLS #1366701. $297,000

The Maine Sportsman

DIGITAL EDITION Discover The Maine Sportsman on-the-go and never miss another issue!

Lincoln - Modified ranch on huge in town lot. Almost completely renovated, large eat in kitchen, sun room and master bedroom all look out at the expansive backyard. Living room has a fireplace, right on Enfield Road.

Come look today. $125,000

Burlington - Cute cabin has been finished nicely and offers all of the amenities (full septic, drilled well and electricity). Knotty pine interior, vaulted ceiling and sits along the ITS snowmobile trail on Burnham Road. Come look today! $59,000

Lincoln - Large 4 bedroom, 2 bath, classic floor plan, hardwood floors, dining room, porches, built-ins, drive through garage adjoins modern 3 bedroom, 2 bath in-law or rental home, dining room, porch, paved drives, 1.3+/- acres on Enfield Road.

Reduced to $165,000

Lee - A beautifully renovated home with pretty frontage on a small pond. The owners have done a stunning job of turning this one time fixer-upper into a show piece. Priced appropriately and ready for you on Arab Road. $69,900

Danforth - Only 25’ from the water’s edge, family camp is log sided with a beautiful knotty pine interior. Large, detached 2 car garage offers parking or storage.

Lakeside of cottage is all glass providing great views on Upper Hot Brook Lake. $135,000

Lowell Nice camp on Passadumkeag River and sits on a year round road. Camp has no water/septic system, but has a composting toilet. ATV trails and recreational opportunities and ready to use camp. $42,500

Winn - Perfect lot for a house or camp. Year around access with available electricity. Mattakeunk Stream frontage, close to ATV/ snowmobile trails, 4-season club, the Mattawamkeag wilderness Park, hunting and fishing. Priced to Sell!! $10,000 Mattamiscontis - This Penobscot River lot has a driveway installed.

The lot has easy access to the river. Enjoy ATV trail on Route 116.

This lot is ready to use. $23,900 Lincoln - This improved lot has a winding private driveway, gorgeous frontage that has been stabilized, A building area partially cleared. This is easily the nicest lot in the subdivision on Long Pond.

Come take a look today. $68,000

ONLY

14 PER YEAR! www.MaineSportsman.com $

www.MaineSportsman.com

Lakeville - Large, undeveloped piece of lakefront property with electricity available. This gorgeous lot offers beautiful frontage on Duck Lake with extremely low taxes. A true jewel!

Come look today. $129,900

R E A L

E S T A T E

5 LAKE STREET, P.O. BOX 66, LINCOLN 207-794-2460 www.cwalakestreet.com E-mail: cwa@cwalakestreet.com

1-800-675-2460 Call any of our brokers to work for you!

“Tate” Aylward ................ 794-2460 Peter Phinney.................. 794-5466 Kirk Ritchie...................... 290-1554

FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ON OUR PROPERTIES VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT CWALAKESTREET.COM

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